Alissa Wilkinson Movie Reviews & Previews

Critics » Alissa Wilkinson

Alissa Wilkinson

Agrees with the Tomatometer 86% of the time.

Biography:: Alissa grew up watching black-and-white movies with a lot of fedora-wearing charmers. Then she moved to New York City and started dating a filmmaker, and it was all over from there. An aficianado of the French New Wave, dark humor, and quiet, quirky drama, she loves anything made by David Fincher, Noah Baumbach, P.T. Anderson, Robert Altman, or Krzysztof Kielslowski, and thinks Stranger Than Fiction is the perfect film. Alissa is working on an M.A. in culture and media studies at New York University. She is editor-in-chief of The Curator, associate editor of Comment, and on staff at International Arts Movement, and her work regularly appears in Paste and Comment. In 2006, she married the filmmaker, and they are happy Brooklynites.
Publications:: Christianity Today

Total Reviews:: 28

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 28 of 28

Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date
4/4	92%	Take Shelter (2011)	" The end is a head-scratcher, destined to provoke late-night pondering. But for anyone grappling with what it means to be a citizen of the 21st century, it's required viewing." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 7, 2011
3.5/4	94%	Moneyball (2011)	" It inspires because it says that sometimes overlooked people are worth a second look, without succumbing to a Disneyfied "anything is possible if you follow your dreams" trope." — Christianity Today Posted Sep 23, 2011
3/4	76%	The Debt (2011)	" Based on an acclaimed Israeli film from 2007, this mostly retains the feeling of a foreign thriller, without succumbing to aggressive Hollywoodization." — Christianity Today Posted Sep 2, 2011
3/4	39%	HappyThankYouMorePlease (2011)	" Takes the themes of mumblecore (twentysomethings looking for love and life direction) and makes them into something more universal -- and, blessedly, less cynical, more full of hope." — Christianity Today Posted Mar 4, 2011
2/4	64%	Biutiful (2010)	" The film is almost too broken and painful for most audiences to be able to experience Uxbal's pain. It's all here, and laid on a bit too thick. " — Christianity Today Posted Feb 25, 2011
4/4	91%	The Fighter (2010)	" David O. Russell's film bobs and weaves, dodges and dances and hits just enough to keep us from relying on the formulas lesser sports movies have taught us." — Christianity Today Posted Dec 17, 2010
3.5/4	96%	The Social Network (2010)	" The film's real achievement stretches beyond the story. When we've all forgotten Facebook, The Social Network will remind us what it was to be part of the generation of Millenials." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 6, 2010
3/4	67%	Jack Goes Boating (2010)	" The adults-acting-badly genre is popular in the art-house scene -- Noah Baumbach perhaps being its king -- but despite its wincing moments, Jack has a much sweeter heart than its darker cousins." — Christianity Today Posted Sep 24, 2010
3/4	86%	Get Low (2010)	" A fine example of excellent filmmaking on a modest budget. Its story sticks with you after the credits roll, a testament to the power of a good tale simply told on the big screen." — Christianity Today Posted Aug 3, 2010
3/4	58%	Shrek Forever After (Shrek 4) (2010)	" The key, as Fiona points out, is to know when you have everything, and be grateful. It's a worthy conclusion to the tale. We can all live happily ever after." — Christianity Today Posted Jun 11, 2010
3/4	60%	The Joneses (2010)	" This cautionary tale depicts consumers who believe they deserve stuff, whether or not they can pay for it. Rarely is this kind of truth seen onscreen in such a subtle and entertaining film." — Christianity Today Posted May 7, 2010
3/4	75%	Greenberg (2010)	" Greenberg plays a lot like mature mumblecore (which is to say that it has a plot and a script), with a familiar theme: It is ultimately your relationships that define you." — Christianity Today Posted Mar 26, 2010
2.5/4	42%	Brooklyn's Finest (2010)	" Despite its strengths, Brooklyn's Finest has weaknesses that keep it from being great. It's simply not as tight as a three-pronged narrative needs to be." — Christianity Today Posted Mar 5, 2010
1.5/4	21%	Oh My God (2009)	" There's nothing new unearthed in this film. The religious adherent won't have their mind changed, and the person who isn't sure what they believe won't find any help here, either." — Christianity Today Posted Nov 30, 2009
3/4	89%	A Serious Man (2009)	" Far more relatable than the Coens' recent work, and one cannot watch it without pondering some questions about the meaning of trials and the nature of fate." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 31, 2009
2.5/4	37%	New York, I Love You (2009)	" While some of the segments are well constructed, the overall quality is simply uneven, and the transitions between segments sometimes verge on the contrived." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 31, 2009
2.5/4	74%	Cold Souls (2009)	" While Cold Souls doesn't answer any of the questions it raises, it does provide a thought-provoking narrative framework from which to begin." — Christianity Today Posted Aug 7, 2009
3/4	51%	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)	" Ultimately, the film reminds us that human life is precious and worth preserving%u2014and all in a smart summer blockbuster." — Christianity Today Posted Jun 24, 2009
2.5/4	71%	The Great Buck Howard (2009)	" Light, witty, and occasionally thoughtful, The Great Buck Howard is a good Saturday-afternoon popcorn flick for teens and adults." — Christianity Today Posted Mar 23, 2009
3/4	96%	Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) (2008)	" Waltz With Bashir will stretch your ideas about the possibilities of films to confront history truthfully, and in particular, animation as a way to tell a serious story." — Christianity Today Posted Jan 9, 2009
3.5/4	98%	The Wrestler (2008)	" Tour de force may be a cliched reviewer's phrase for performances during Oscar season, but it's the only one that can be applied to Rourke here." — Christianity Today Posted Dec 23, 2008
1.5/4	34%	Adam Resurrected (2008)	" Could have been a tour de force for director Paul Schrader and his cast, and the glimpses of greatness make the reality all the more disappointing." — Christianity Today Posted Dec 16, 2008
3/4	78%	Doubt (2008)	" Doubt brings assumptions about people and circumstances to the surface, and then challenges those assumptions with uncertainty and, yes, doubt. Nobody loses, but nobody wins, either" — Christianity Today Posted Dec 16, 2008
3.5/4	68%	Synecdoche, New York (2008)	" A brilliant, gut-wrenching plunge into the painful work of facing the decisions we make and choosing to either continue onward, or live in regret." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 24, 2008
2/4	51%	What Just Happened? (2008)	" Though the movie is darkly funny, most people outside the movie business won't find themselves laughing too much." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 17, 2008
3/4	85%	Rachel Getting Married (2008)	" Throbs with life from title to credits, employing perhaps the most authentic characters you'll see on screen this year." — Christianity Today Posted Oct 3, 2008
2/4	13%	The Women (2008)	" While The Women provides an evening of laughter and some points to ponder, relationships work only when all involved are willing to sacrifice for one another." — Christianity Today Posted Sep 29, 2008

Showing 1 - 28 of 28

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