Captain Phillips Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Movie magic happens when the right actor finds the right director. Jimmy Stewart was the perfect everyman to navigate the twisted worlds of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers. In Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese found the ideal actor to bring his tough Italian leading men to the big screen. The list goes on and […]
The Spectacular Now Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Delightfully atypical and marvelously in tune with its lead characters, James Ponsoldt’s The Spectacular Now defies the rules of the high school dramedy subgenre as frequently and forcefully as Miles Teller‘s Sutter defies underage drinking laws. It’s a joyful, precious film built around a boy and a girl who love to live […]
Drinking Buddies Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) An observational comedy best observed by the late 20s, early 30s craft brew crowd, Drinking Buddies represents mumblecore master director Joe Swanberg’s first baby step toward higher-profile filmmaking. Not unlike the Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus, Drinking Buddies is still a decidedly Swanbergian picture; it just features a cast of mainstream actors, as well […]
Monsters University Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Three of Pixar‘s last four films have been “familiar” projects. Whether a sequel (Toy Story 3, Cars 2) or a prequel (Monsters University), the idea that the beloved animation studio was out of “original” ideas—or at least that the minds at Pixar were content falling back on the familiar—have permeated many a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Side Effects Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The auteur theory is a frequently debated and discussed topic within the film world. Behind the theory is the idea that an “auteur” is a prolific director whose work is easily identifiable based on just a few characteristics—themes, camerawork, music, regular collaborations with specific actors, and other things of this nature. Opponents […]
The Place Beyond the Pines Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’” —John 5:19 Derek Cianfrance burst onto the American independent movie scene with 2010’s searing […]
Amour Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) One has to be prepared for the kind of cinematic masochism that comes with watching a Michael Haneke film before sitting down to his latest, the Best Picture-nominated Amour. But while brutal, this film is almost nothing like the Austrian auteur’s previous work. Everything that’s gruesome comes back to intense sorrow, not […]
Sleepwalk with Me Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Mike Birbiglia’s unique voice in his semi-autobiographical film, Sleepwalk with Me, is one of 2012’s sweetest, most satisfying cinematic treats. He wears three hats here—actor, writer, and director—and he’s extremely successful on each front. His on-screen persona is one best described as affably insecure. His writing bites and stings. And his aesthetic […]
Life of Pi Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The main character in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi claims to have a story that’ll make you believe in God. To say that’s true would be to overstate its impact, but there is something miraculous about the film as a whole. Life of Pi was filmed on the water with a first-time […]
Skyfall Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Sumptuous and splendid, Skyfall takes James Bond in a whole new direction for his 23rd official big-screen adventure. Looking exclusively at the way the film concludes, one might think we’d gone back in time to the Bond of the 1960s, but what precedes it is very much a Sam Mendes character piece. […]
Wreck-It Ralph Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Though Disney owns Pixar, the two animation studios work autonomously, and the latter has simply dominated the former over the last decade or so. Wreck-It Ralph—Disney’s latest—represents a giant, candy-colored momentum swing back toward Mickey Mouse and company. Disney still isn’t winning the battle; Pixar’s track record is just too strong. But […]
Oslo, August 31st Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Throughout Joachim Trier’s mesmerizing sophomore feature, Oslo, August 31st, a recovering drug addict (played brilliantly by Anders Danielsen Lie) visits friends and family members—the most important people in his life—while on leave from rehab for a day in search of an avenue to start anew. Ironically, it’s someone he’s hardly acquainted with, […]
Seven Psychopaths Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In what’s turning out to be a banner year for uber-clever, original scripts, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths has one of the very best. McDonagh’s In Bruges was merely a warm-up act for the violent zaniness that is his sophomore directorial effort. If you were a fan of that film, you’ll love this […]
