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 […]
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 […]
The Other Guys Review
RATING: (3 STARS) When I first saw Anchorman back in 2004, I thought Will Ferrell was the king of the world. He could do no wrong in my book. It was by far the funniest movie of that year, and it remains one of my favorite comedies of the past decade. Slowly but surely, Ferrell […]
Training Day Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Training Day is a rare beast—a cop movie that’s about more than a clichéd crime and investigation. This film, a very personal one for director Antoine Fuqua, raises questions about the meaning of justice, the point of it, and the lengths one will go to in order to ensure it. And it’s […]
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Review
RATING: (3 STARS) I’m not at all familiar with Abel Ferrera’s 1992 cult classic “Bad Lieutenant,†other than the fact that Werner Herzog re-imagined it into 2009’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.†The former film starred Harvey Keitel as a dirty cop capable who didn’t give a damn about law and order. The […]
