Nymphomaniac: Volume II Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In Volume I of Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, sex was used as a means of discovery and toy for manipulation. In Volume II, it’s a goddamn weapon of mass destruction. What’s arguably even more shocking than this film’s depravity and bleakness—or its copious and explicit sexual content—is von Trier’s willingness and ability […]
Nymphomaniac: Volume I Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Volume I of famous Danish provocateur Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac saga is…well…incomplete. This portrait of a woman’s journey into sex addiction builds and builds and builds, and if Volume II delivers on the promise introduced here, these two drifting hours of character development will feel essential. On their own, they just don’t. […]
The Avengers Review
RATING: (3 STARS) With five separate films, years of hype, and billions of dollars all leading up to this, how in the world can director Joss Whedon satisfy expectations surrounding his new film, The Avengers? Easy: Up the stakes as high as they’ll go and pack in as many glory moments as humanly (or, in […]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Review
RATING: (3 STARS) David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about as good as its nauseatingly dense source material would allow. I’m no fan of Stieg Larsson’s novel, nor the original Swedish film version. Fincher, however, is able to milk this puppy for all its worth. It’s pulp for mass consumption. It hides […]
Melancholia Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Lars von Trier’s Melancholia defies classification about as much as it does your expectations. What else is there to expect, really, from the director of Antichrist and from a very personal story of depression and the end of the world. I guess the easiest thing to call it would be the anti-Tree […]
Thor Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) At a time when the superhero genre is steering itself toward reality (a la The Dark Knight), Thor seems like a fish out of water. Its characters actually have powers, it takes place in fantastical worlds, and logic and reason are its first casualties. And though a film like that might sound […]
Angels and Demons Review
RATING: (1 STAR) I think I might be one of roughly fifty people in the world who hasn’t read any of Dan Brown’s mega-best-selling Robert Langdon books. I tried to read “The DaVinci Code,†but I couldn’t get into it. That being said, I actually kind of enjoyed “The DaVinci Code,†the generally reviled big […]
