Jackie Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Jackie is a remarkable film that’s equal parts a devastating portrait of indescribable grief and a lesson on the nuts and bolts of myth making and legacy building. It takes place on a personal level — intimate, intrusive, uncomfortable — but it has national and even international implications. That scope feels appropriate […]
Black Mass Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Black Mass feels perfunctory and uninspired. It appears to exist because the story of James “Whitey” Bulger is one that should be chronicled in a narrative film and unfortunately not because those involved have something unique to say about it. As such, it takes a paint-by-numbers approach to 20 years of Bulger’s […]
Blue Jasmine Review
RATING: (3 STARS) In 1988, Pedro Almodóvar directed Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In 2013, Woody Allen directed Blue Jasmine, a.k.a. “Woman on the Verge of Another Nervous Breakdown (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Stoli Martinis with a Twist of Lemon)”. Blue Jasmine is a far cry from […]
Lovelace Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Ordinary vs. extraordinary. Linda Boreman was the former, but she found herself in the midst of a situation that was very much the latter. Lovelace is both the name Boreman would carry throughout her adult life and the title of the, unfortunately, very ordinary cinematic chronicle of her bizarre career and horrific […]
BLU-RAY REVIEW: Green Lantern
Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern was an undeniable failure both financially (domestic box office of $116 million on a $200 million production budget) and critically (27% approval on Rotten Tomatoes). But go elsewhere if you’re looking for another reviewer to pile on. I won’t—I can’t. The film is too much fun. It’s a mess, mind you. […]
Green Lantern Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Of the four big superhero movies coming out this summer, Green Lantern caused me the most initial trepidation. Besides not being the biggest Ryan Reynolds fan, I was concerned about the story’s “out-there-ness,” and I wasn’t sure director Martin Campbell was up to the task of handling all the film’s CGI. Unfortunately, […]
Boys Don’t Cry Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The story of Brandon Teena is a tragic one, and knowing its outcome ahead of time makes watching Boys Don’t Cry a difficult, but interesting experience. Brandon was born a female—Teena Brandon—in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was a pre-op transgender in late 1993. When his true identity was revealed to his friends, John […]
Knight and Day Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Well, summer blockbusters this year are improving, albeit at a snail’s pace. The best thing I can say about “Knight and Day†is that it’s a step above most of what I’ve seen this summer. Coming fresh off the heels of The A-Team, it was good. But judged objectively, this is just […]
An Education Review
RATING: (4 STARS) “An Education†is a brilliant coming-of-age story in 1960’s England. A clever, pretty young girl named Jenny (Carey Mulligan in a star-making performance) learns the true value of a woman’s education and the heartbreaking consequences of taking shortcuts. It’s a fascinating film that’s well-written and brilliantly acted and should be in line […]
