Farah Goes Bang Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Though it hits some annoyingly familiar notes within the road trip and “losing your virginity” subgenres, Farah Goes Bang bucks disappointment thanks to its unique, almost unshakable sense of disappointment. The film, about three recent college graduates (including one frustrated virgin) on the campaign trail for John Kerry in 2004, keeps building, […]
Trance Review
RATING: (3 STARS) There’s a great movie hidden beneath the bright lights, loud noises, and multiple misdirections that make up Danny Boyle‘s latest film, Trance. A heist thriller that thinks it’s a lot smarter than it really is, Boyle and his screenwriters, Joe Ahearne and John Hodge, get bogged down trying to fool us when […]
Oz: The Great and Powerful Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Fairy tale prequels, sequels, remakes, and reimaginings have been all the rage at the multiplex over the past few years. And while The Wizard of Oz isn’t exactly a fairy tale, comparing Oz: The Great and Powerful to films like Snow White and the Huntsman and Jack the Giant Slayer isn’t unreasonable. […]
The Sessions Review
RATING: (3 STARS) There’s a monologue just past the halfway point of Ben Lewin’s The Sessions that’s so lovingly written it could bring a tear to your eye. It isn’t a thoughtful poem (though the film has plenty of those) but more of a love letter—a love letter to sex. It seems like Mark O’Brien […]
Die Hard 2 Review
RATING: (3 STARS) To top the original Die Hard would have been damn near impossible. That director Renny Harlin followed it up with something as entertaining as Die Hard 2 is both surprising and satisfying. Harlin follows the first film’s formula almost to a fault, but it capitalizes on the first film’s strongest asset—its setting. […]
A Late Quartet Review
RATING: (3 STARS) A sedate and stately drama about the dysfunctional private lives of classical musicians, Yaron Zilberman’s A Late Quartet just screams “acting showcase.” And it’s hard to argue the film’s chief pleasure isn’t seeing Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Christopher Walken on top of their respective games. There’s a lot more to […]
The Impossible Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Impossible tells a very micro-level story about one of the greatest natural disasters in human history. It’s set before, during, and after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that affected men and women in dozens of countries on the Indian Ocean, including Thailand, where Henry (Ewan McGregor), Maria (Naomi Watts), and their […]
Frankenweenie Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Frankenweenie is arguably the sweetest, most heartfelt movie Tim Burton has ever made. It’s also his strongest effort in almost a decade. Much of this likely stems from the fact that Frankenweenie was actually a short film Burton directed before he made it big, and one can’t help but think a break […]
Holy Motors Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Trying to describe one’s feelings toward Leos Carax’s Holy Motors is an exercise as futile as trying to explain the plot of the film, but here goes nothing. One man—Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant)—rides around Paris in a limousine, which stops periodically for Oscar to step out and become a new person. At […]
Les Misérables Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Les Misérables is a boxer too intent on landing a knockout punch. Every swing for the fences leaves it open to attack. Director Tom Hooper actually lands his jabs. The film’s softer, less stylized moments are both effective and affecting. When Hooper’s manic camera plants its ass in front of the tragic […]
On the Road Review
RATING: (3 STARS) A big-screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road was always going to be love-it-or-hate-it. Its reputation will lead the uninitiated to have inflated expectations, and the very novelistic nature of the material will cause Kerouac devotees to expect the worst. Count me in the camp of the former. Sadly, […]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey could certainly afford to lose a few pounds, but it’s nonetheless an enjoyable reintroduction to Middle Earth. The world depicted here is different from that of director Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy—it’s fluffier, much more light-hearted—but certain characters, tropes, and Howard Shore’s sweeping score […]
Lincoln Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The way Daniel Day-Lewis towers over Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is almost a shame. His performance is one of such immersion that you’ll occasionally lose sight of what’s going on around him—even the words he’s speaking. Or maybe that has to do with Tony Kushner’s drier-than-desert-sand screenplay. Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency are […]
Flight Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Robert Zemeckis’ Flight is a minor miracle of a film that depicts—in absolutely stunning fashion—a real miracle. Or a fictional miracle based on a tragedy—the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which killed everyone onboard. Still, Zemeckis’ direction of the plane crash at the heart of the film, Denzel Washington’s killer […]
ParaNorman Review
RATING: (3 STARS) In what’s looking like a banner year for animated films, ParaNorman is without question the sweetest we’ve seen so far. The film’s acceptance themes are anything but subtle, but its story is clever, its animation is crisp, and its characters are really charming. A double feature with Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie would make […]
The Forgiveness of Blood Review
RATING: (3 STARS) With The Forgiveness of Blood, writer-director Joshua Marsten is two for two in depicting frightening and completely foreign cultures to willing American viewers. Maria Full of Grace (from way back in 2004) showed us the hardships of three Columbian drug mules on their way to America. His latest is a much more […]
