Reviews

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Written by Pete Timmermann Friday, 11 November 2011 11:36

While J. Edgar isn’t an outright bad film, it does feel pretty distinctly like a missed opportunity.

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Written by Sean Lass Friday, 04 November 2011 08:55

Elizabeth Olsen gives an astounding performance. At times, she is so subtle you may not even realize that she is acting.

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Written by Sean Lass Thursday, 03 November 2011 21:10

I like both of these guys so much that I can’t even be sure that I’m fairly judging the movie.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Thursday, 03 November 2011 20:49

Living in a garret may sound romantic, but trudging up six flights of stairs is probably a lot less fun when you’re pushing 60, carrying heavy bags, and have just been rudely informed that the elevator off limits to you.

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Written by Sean Lass Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:52

I could try to go in depth on other elements of this film, but that would be a fool’s errand. This is a movie to be experienced, not described.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:36

The character of Tevye the Dairyman was also born out of Aleichem’s struggles to understand the rapidly changing world around him.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Wednesday, 26 October 2011 14:59

What I’m trying to say here, though, is that their interviews in this film are particularly memorable, with Davis ultimately winning the competition in the end with an extended interview conducted while still in jail awaiting trial in 1972.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 26 October 2011 13:45

John Carpenter brought a level of artistry and integrity to his films.

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Written by Matthew Newlin Wednesday, 19 October 2011 20:45

Watching Margin Call is like watching a 105-minute first act of a real movie. The entire film is exposition with no real action.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Wednesday, 19 October 2011 20:37

The gist here is that Russell and Glen meet in a bar and become enamored of one another fast, except we soon learn that Glen is meant to move to America in a day or two.

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Written by Adrienne Jones Wednesday, 19 October 2011 20:18

Toast is based on Nigel Slater’s memoirs of the time before he became one of Britain’s most renowned food writers. Things in the film might have happened exactly as they did in real life, but if they did, it’s proof that not everyone’s unedited life will make a good movie.

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Written by Sean Lass Friday, 14 October 2011 09:57

There is some question as to whether this film is technically a remake or not. Ostensibly, it is a prequel. Carpenter’s film opened with the titular monster running to an American science station in the middle of the arctic, pursued by seemingly mad Norwegians.

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Written by Sean Lass Friday, 14 October 2011 08:39

I’ve never seen the original Footloose. It was not a film of my childhood, and for whatever reason, I have never gotten around to it. I have no nostalgic love for it, nor do I have any postmodern hatred of it. This makes it easy for me to judge its remake from a completely objective point of view, and I saw a pretty good film.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 12 October 2011 12:08

The Mill and the Cross is worth your while if you have any interest in the art of cinema.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 12 October 2011 12:05

This is the kind of film in which a little belief in magic is not entirely out of place.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 07 October 2011 21:10

The movie is about robot boxing. Not much else needs to be said.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Friday, 07 October 2011 21:05

It’s also a thoroughly good political thriller that both works on its own and makes an interesting comment on the current state of the union.

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Written by Sean Lass Friday, 07 October 2011 08:47

But we know eventually this preacher will pick up a machine gun, and each time he does the film takes another step back in quality.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 07 October 2011 08:42

Director Alain Corneau brilliantly sets up the film’s central conflict, which is based not simply on Christine being threatened by Isabelle’s talent, but on the obvious fact that Christine is in love with Isabelle.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Friday, 30 September 2011 10:06

 So while 50/50 reeks of being an Apatow rip-off, it actually transcends its Apatowian trappings and succeeds even where Judd himself had previously failed.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 30 September 2011 09:43

Even with all this talent and experience, the movie still fails miserably because it’s trying too hard to use R-rated comedy to hide the fact that the script is bland and uninteresting.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 30 September 2011 09:31

OK, that probably sounds like something cooked up in a week by a director fired from his last job, but fortunately it's so much fun that you won't care if it makes any sense or not.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Wednesday, 21 September 2011 21:16

I don’t like baseball, but I did like Moneyball.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Wednesday, 21 September 2011 21:03

The Man Who Fell to Earth is an extremely stylized film and for that reason doesn’t seem dated.

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Written by Matthew Newlin Friday, 16 September 2011 17:19

The plot is as powerful as it was the first time we visited the African continent where the animal kingdom is ruled by the powerful but caring lion Mufasa.

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Written by Adrienne Jones Friday, 16 September 2011 17:07

He may want those things (quietly, desperately) but they’re not meant for him.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 16 September 2011 16:44

In Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, the viewer never has a chance to sit back and absorb the story—not only because there is no story, but also because Fiennes seldom offers an image or sequence that fits into any conventional cinematic vocabulary.

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Written by Jason Green Friday, 16 September 2011 09:14

Don’t let the superhero trappings fool you: Griff the Invisible is a quirky indie romance through-and-through, and a fine one, at that.

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Written by Adrienne Jones Friday, 09 September 2011 13:15

The fights look real. But more than that, they feel real. As you watch, you get the sensation of being in the first row by the cage, having it all happen right in front of you.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Friday, 09 September 2011 13:07

Contagion is structured like a serial killer movie, à la The Silence of the Lambs or Se7en, but instead of the killer being a human it’s a virus.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Thursday, 08 September 2011 07:51

Generally this means getting to people who were recently victims of gang violence and are expected to retaliate; other times it has them literally throwing themselves in between two people they find fighting on the street.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Thursday, 01 September 2011 20:06

Soon after, Dawn and the plumber are making out, which is what invokes the ire of the tree in the first place. Yes, this is all as stupid as it sounds.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Thursday, 25 August 2011 23:51

If you have any interest in the period you'll want to see it, but you'll need a high tolerance for below-amateur-level footage that often displays bad behavior by people inflated with a sense of their own self-importance.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 19 August 2011 11:43

Director Craig Gillespie does a terrific job of balancing serious storytelling with the fact that a vampire hiding out in Las Vegas is absolutely absurd.

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Written by Pete Timmermann Friday, 19 August 2011 11:38

The structure lends itself to weightier fare that targets an intelligent audience, but here it is used only in the service of a bad, manipulative romantic drama.

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Written by Matthew F. Newlin Friday, 19 August 2011 11:33

Writer/director Fred Cavaye has jettisoned all unnecessary dialogue and action; his style makes each scene pulse with that much more energy.