The Canyons Review
RATING: (2 STARS) There’s something perversely mesmerizing about the cinematic train wreck that is The Canyons, the latest from director Paul Schrader. Maybe it’s the director’s confidence. This pulpy, sex-fueled story is utter nonsense, but it’s entertaining nonsense. The performances from porn star James Deen and tabloid queen Lindsay Lohan are abysmal, but they’re also […]
Archie’s Final Project Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) This review was written as part of “The CK’s Not-So-Secret Santa Review Swap (in July)”, a community project from The Cinematic Katzenjammer. Please catch up with the idea for this project and the other reviews written for it here. Archie’s Final Project boasts a rather fascinating concept, a compelling story, and an […]
Reality Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Matteo Garrone made a name for himself internationally back in 2008 with the release of Gomorrah, an Italian crime epic with a lot to say about the sociopolitical state of his home country. Gomorrah won Garrone the Grand Prix at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and his latest, Reality, won the same […]
Spring Breakers Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is perhaps the ultimate test (or, less hyperbolically, the ultimate test this year) of seeing the forest for the trees. Is Korine—an infamous boundary pusher whose first film was about an HIV-positive man deliberately infecting young women—saying something profound about our youth and culture with this would-be exploitation […]
Europa Report Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Mere minutes into Europa Report, we’re told the space mission being chronicled—one that would, for the first time, send man into deep space—was watched intensely by the general public for six months before it went dark. The four men and two women on board Europa One—a vessel headed for the icy Jupiter […]
No Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain has defined his career thus far by capturing the dark side of life in his native country during the authoritarian rule of General Augusto Pinochet. His latest, the Oscar-nominated No, is a decidedly brighter picture that chronicles Pinochet’s democratic defeat, and the optimistic tone serves Larrain well. For […]
Man of Steel Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Once more unto the breach, dear friends… When the public’s goodwill toward Superman turned sour following the abominable Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Krypton’s finest took a 19 year break from the big screen. Superman Returns was meant to be a triumphant return, and the film played that angle up, but […]
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks Review
Like most of prolific director Alex Gibney‘s documentaries, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is serious-minded, but breezy and easily digested—it deserves much more than simply being called “the WikiLeaks movie.” Gibney has a nack for efficient storytelling that entertains as much as it informs, and his take on the enigmatic Julian Assange is […]
Frances Ha Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Who would have thought the best film from writer/director Noah Baumbach—master of the melancholy—would be so light and airy? Frances Ha is simple, but delightful—a film carried on the back of clever writing and a dynamite lead performance. It also packs a surprising amount of emotion and insight, even if it isn’t […]
Superman Returns Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) It took 19 long years to get Superman back to the big screen after the epic awfulness that was Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Superman Returns, from director Bryan Singer, is the first in the series without Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, and while it has a number of problems, the […]
Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie Review
“Is this a passing fancy or is this in front of the wave?†Former Today Show host Bryant Gumbel asked this of rabble-rouser extraordinaire Morton Downey Jr. sometime during his meteoric rise to the top of syndicated television. The quote very appropriately concludes this exceptionally entertaining documentary chronicling Downey’s life and career, and its answer […]
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Review
RATING: (0.5 STARS) It isn’t hard to see where Superman IV: The Quest for Peace goes wrong. Its awfulness hides in plain sight and renders the film as a whole nearly unwatchable. It’s a little like the sun—stare for too long, and you’ll feel physical pain. But then you start to feel a little bad […]
Superman III Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) With the off-screen problems connected to Superman II out of the way, there was no reason Superman III couldn’t have been another thrilling adventure. Sure, Gene Hackman was out, furious at producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind over what happened with Superman director Richard Donner. But the Salkinds lured comedian Richard Pryor into […]
Superman II Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The behind-the-scenes story of Superman II is the stuff of legend, but one shouldn’t assume a project with such a messy history is itself a mess. On the contrary, Superman II (at least the theatrical version credited to director Richard Lester) is a slightly tighter, more suspenseful, and more entertaining film than […]
Superman Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Richard Donner’s Superman is very much a product of the Star Wars school of blockbuster filmmaking—big, ambitious themes masked in a familiar, satisfying story with sometimes spotty (by today’s standard), sometimes dazzling (by any standard) special effects that hide narrative deficiencies at every turn. The ink was hardly dry on the school’s […]
Behind the Candelabra Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) For his feature film swan song, director Steven Soderbergh has elected to tell a sordid tale about sex, drugs, plastic surgery, possible incest, and shattered dreams. Behind the Candelabra also happens to be a biopic chronicling the latter years of music legend Liberace. Dubbed (by himself and those around him) “Mr. Showmanship,” […]
