Superman Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Richard Donner’s Superman is very much a product of the Star Wars school of blockbuster filmmaking—big, ambitious themes masked in a familiar, satisfying story with sometimes spotty (by today’s standard), sometimes dazzling (by any standard) special effects that hide narrative deficiencies at every turn. The ink was hardly dry on the school’s […]
Rampart Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Rampart is another in a long line of 2011 character studies focusing on a man or woman on his or her her way to hitting rock bottom. Drive did something similar, as did Martha Marcy May Marlene. Perhaps the most apt companion piece would be We Need to Talk About Kevin. Disregarding […]
Rango Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The best comparison I can come up with for Gore Verbinski’s Rango is last year’s Kick-Ass. While the two share little in common thematically, they both succeed on multiple fronts. They are great genre films—Rango, a western; Kick-Ass, a superhero movie—while simultaneously sending up that same genre. Fans of westerns will love […]
Toy Story 3 Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Rarely does a film come out at the absolute perfect time, but “Toy Story 3†is such a film. I’d argue this film isn’t made for kids—it’s made for those of us, like me, who grew up with the “Toy Story†characters. We watched as kids and went home wishing we could […]
All the President’s Men Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) We all know the story. President Richard M. Nixon and “all of his men†conspired to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel, operated a secret slush fund within the White House, and obstructed justice during the investigation. Alan J. Pakula’s “All the President’s Men†is the […]
Deliverance Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Deliverance is part rousing adventure, part cautionary tale, part criminal cover-up, and part fish-out-of-water story, all thrown together and mixed with a little violence and humor. And that’s the film’s problem; It doesn’t have a strong identity (though its sense of place is exceptional), and its tone is all over the place. […]
