The Invention of Lying Review
RATING: (3 STARS) I remember watching “Ghost Town†in 2008 and thinking, “Is this really the best Ricky Gervais could do?†Granted, he wasn’t responsible for the material, but I don’t think there are many people funnier than the man who created the original “The Office,†and his major film debut was just so ordinary. […]
Appaloosa Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The western is one of my favorite genres of film. They take you to a time that’s alien to us—a time when laws and morals were different, almost incomprehensible to what we know today. It’s also a time that’s been captured many times on film, but not so much recently. Every year, […]
North by Northwest Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) In the realm of Hitchcock, few titles are as universally revered as “North by Northwest.†My preference is Psycho, but I’m sure there are plenty of cinephiles out there who would label this film as the Master of Suspense’s greatest. But I’m not really sure why. It’s a serviceable mystery that plays […]
The Godfather Review
RATING: (4 STARS) If I’m being honest, the first time I watched it, I didn’t want to love “The Godfather.” It’s so cliché. I wanted to buck the trend. I wanted to write a searing piece about this overrated “masterpiece†that everyone loves so much. But I can’t. It’s too damn good. Seriously, this film […]
The Young Victoria Review
RATING: (3 STARS) European royalty dramas are a dime a dozen. The last decade has seen films about Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Marie Antoinette, among many others. The close of the decade brought another such film—Jean-Marc Vallée’s “The Young Victoria†about the early years of the reign of Britain’s longest serving monarch. The […]
The Apartment Review
RATING: (4 STARS) “The Apartment†is the kind of film that reminds me why I love movies. Even when the quality of new films reaches an all-time low, I’m not discouraged. I know there are plenty of brilliant pieces of cinema like this Billy Wilder classic to bring me out of the movie doldrums and […]
Whip It Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) The best thing I can say about “Whip It†is that it’s competent. It doesn’t make any major mistakes, and it tells its story well. Unfortunately, it’s all so safe that it’s hard to muster up much enthusiasm about it. The only interesting thing about it is the device it uses to […]
Million Dollar Baby Review
RATING: (4 STARS) It was supposed to be the year of Martin Scorsese. The Aviator had all the makings of an Oscar darling—it was a biopic with great acting, direction, and technical features. But all of a sudden, at the end of December, a little film called “Million Dollar Baby†gets released and knocks just […]
The Shawshank Redemption Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) It’s the highest rated film of all-time on IMDb, but is “The Shawshank Redemption†worthy of that title? Well, no. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a powerful look at the prison system and raises questions regarding what it means to be guilty […]
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Review
RATING: (2 STARS) “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time†is, I think, about as good as video-game adaptations can get. I hope I’m wrong on that. I would love for something to come along and knock my socks off. But the limitations put on these types of films are probably too great to make […]
Shrek Forever After Review
RATING: (2 STARS) More so than being unentertaining, “Shrek Forever After†(or is it titled “Shrek: The Final Chapterâ€) is just ridiculously unnecessary. I don’t believe anyone can watch this movie and say it’s a story that needed to be told. At the end of “Shrek the Third,†our beloved ogre was in a happy […]
Alien Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) “In space, no one can hear you scream.†What a tagline! It perfectly describes the feeling of helplessness present in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic, “Alien.†The 1979 film about a group of commercial astronauts being terrorized by a vicious creature hiding in the air ducts of their ship is really, really […]
Summer Hours Review
RATING: (3 STARS) It’s with bated breath that I wait to see director Olivier Assayas’ “Carlos†this fall. I might end up hating it, but long (this one’s over 5 hours), epic movies like this always intrigue me. That anticipation came to a head with some glowing reviews out of Cannes, so I decided to […]
Date Night Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) As I said in my review of The General, action comedies are hard to pull off. Usually a film focuses too much on forced laughter, which inevitably takes away from the action. A perfect example of this is Shawn Levy’s “Date Night,†a film that does both the comedy and the action […]
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) When on vacation with a group, one does things one might not normally do by his or herself. So when it was decided we would all be watching “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,†I had little choice but to oblige. Two hours and ten minutes later, I wished I had gone for […]
The General Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) This year, I’ve seen my first Charlie Chaplin, Marx Brothers, and Buster Keaton films. First was The Gold Rush, an incredibly charming gem by Chaplin. Next was Duck Soup, which upped the ante in terms of comedy with its hilarious one-liners and musical numbers. Now that I’ve seen a Buster Keaton film, […]
