Hell and Back Again
Though structurally interesting, Danfung Dennis’ Oscar-nominated documentary Hell and Back Again suffers from a number of small, frustrating problems that collectively hinder it beyond the point of recommendation. Most of these problems are personal ones to me, so this, more than anything I’ve written in a while, should be taken with a grain of salt. […]
Perfect Sense Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Another year, another apocalypse movie. In Perfect Sense, however, the end of the world comes with a delicious twist. It’s not another planet coming to destroy us (a la Melancholia), nor is it necessarily a Contagion-like epidemic. Rather, it’s the sudden and inexplicable loss of our senses. Director David Mackenzie utilizes an […]
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Review
RATING: (1 STAR) Stephen Daldry’s latest film, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, tries to make sense of one of the worst days—perhaps the “Worst Day”—in American history. It does so through the eyes of a pre-teen boy, who appears to suffer from Asperger’s Disease. And what does it ultimately tell us? That New Yorkers are […]
The Killing Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Though his later films would take us to space, the battlefront, the war room, and a very haunted hotel, Stanley Kubrick got his start in the seedy world of film noir. Killer’s Kiss was his first foray into this genre, and though generally unremarkable, it gets by thanks to its director’s ahead-of-its-time […]
A Better Life Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Chris Weitz, director of The Twilight Saga: New Moon and About a Boy, isn’t a name you’d expect to be attached to a humanistic drama about illegal immigrants, but his A Better Life is about just that, and it’s a very mature piece of work. The film has gotten a great deal […]
The Grey Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Joe Carnahan has gotten a reputation for directing B-level action flicks—The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces. But The Grey is a whole other animal. “Action” isn’t exactly a word I’d use to describe it, though there is a big crash sequence and a few wolf-fighting scenes. It’s actually more a mix of a man […]
Project Nim
On the surface, James Marsh’s Project Nim, is about a group of people’s quest to teach a chimp sign language. And if it was just about that, it probably would have been a great documentary. But it touches on so many other, very meaningful themes—most notably, abandonment and selfishness—that one can’t help but admire the […]
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
If nothing else, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 proves there is such a thing as truth in advertising. Billed as the greatest hits of some found footage filmed during the titular time period, the film really is a mixtape. But not every track on a mixtape is created equal. As such, I really dug some […]
Chronicle Review
RATING: (3 STARS) With found-footage movies cleaning up at the box office over quite an extended period of time now, it seemed inevitable that they’d move past their horror roots and into other genres. Chronicle is the found-footage superhero movie, and it’s one of the most unique movie-going experiences in years. Those expecting a low-budget […]
Paths of Glory Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Even the most fervent foreign policy hawks would likely have a hard time disputing the anti-war message in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. The 1957 film, which really signaled the director’s arrival on the big stage, preaches without seeming too preachy, and horrifies while avoiding some potentially horrifying imagery. What’s frightening about […]
Le Havre Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Aki Kaurasmaki’s Le Havre does for the small French village what Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris does for its titular city. Kaurasmaki presents an uber-romantic view of the kind of community where everyone knows everyone, and baguette and stinky cheese can be bought on every corner. It seems more than a little […]
The Artist Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist is a crowd-pleaser through and through. The film is just bursting with wit and energy, and like some of the best and most timeless silent films of old, it doesn’t need to do much to bring a 100-minute-long smile to your face. In fact, it doesn’t do much. […]
Man on a Ledge Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Man on a Ledge is a colossally dumb heist movie that works more often than it doesn’t in spite of the filmmakers’ best efforts. That director Asger Leth and writer Pablo F. Fenjves would think this is a smart thriller feels insulting. It’s riddled with cliches and more than a little preposterous. […]
Shame Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Does a film need a soul in order to be successful? Steve McQueen’s Shame doesn’t have one, but it’s hard to argue that the film doesn’t work on at least some level. The film is colder and more emotionally distant than perhaps any other from 2011, and the way it places us […]
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Hold on to your hats, folks. Detective Dee is in town. Part mystical Western, part kung fu epic, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is either the most glorious send-up of Asian action films or the most over-the-top foreign film I’ve ever seen. Regardless of which it is, I […]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a superior thriller that accomplishes the unfathomable in condensing John le Carré’s masterful British espionage novel into an appropriately dense but followable two-hour film. And shockingly, not a ton of important detail is lost in the translation. Director Tomas Alfredson (following up the sensational Let the Right […]
