|
3/4
|
56%
|
Oblivion (2013) |
"
The action sequences are well-constructed, but forced: They're concessions to the marketplace, and they interfere with the movie's true interest in the routine rather than the extremes of postapocalyptic survival."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted May 8, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
42%
|
To The Wonder (2013) |
"
Terrence Malick is to light as Orson Welles was to shadow: the master."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted May 3, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
87%
|
Upstream Color (2013) |
"
May represent a milestone in modern indie cinema, or at least a steppingstone between the smart microbudget work signified by star Amy Seimetz and the more grandiose aspirations associated with someone like -- dare I invoke the name? -- Stanley Kubrick."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted May 3, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
94%
|
Room 237 (2013) |
"
It's an essay about the human need to reject the notion of a random universe and find order and meaning in existence. These people are developing their own creation myths, with Kubrick the mastermind responsible for the Intelligent Design."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
64%
|
Antiviral (2013) |
"
Brandon (son of David) Cronenberg demonstrates that the diseased tumor doesn't fall far from the infected corpse, so to speak: He's delivered a movie of smart, satirical science-fiction concepts and disturbing, sometimes bloody images."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
98%
|
Mud (2013) |
"
This is no Southern Gothic pastiche but a convincing portrait of a South rarely seen onscreen, the South of Walmarts and water moccasins, of Piggy-Wiggly and punk rock."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
54%
|
The Company You Keep (2013) |
"
A tougher work might have seemed provocatively relevant in the tragic context of current events, but this film has a muted nostalgia for the days when bomb-tossing students had easy-to-pronounce names and might grow up to be as cleancut as Robert Redford."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
56%
|
The Vampire Lovers (1970) |
"
What's remarkable about 'The Vampire Lovers' is not the bite wounds that mark the bare female breasts but the intense romantic yearning and fear of separation and loneliness that mark the character of Carmilla (Ingrid Pitt)."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 19, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
52%
|
The Playroom (2013) |
"
Molly Parker is Oscar-worthy in the juicy role of John Hawkes' alcoholic, stylish, sexy/pathetic wife."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 19, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
79%
|
Ginger & Rosa (2013) |
"
Nuclear anxiety becomes a distraction from teenage pressures and a projection of potentially explosive emotional distress in this beautifully acted character drama. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 19, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
68%
|
Trance (2013) |
"
Boyle's showboating has none of the impact of the film's most memorable image, a sudden full-length shot of Rosario Dawson, as bare as a Renaissance Venus. This is a startling example of cinema's original and unsurpassed special effect: the human figure. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 15, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
100%
|
Sound City (2013) |
"
It's (a) part documentary homage to the defunct Los Angeles rock-and-roll studio where Grohl's earlier band, Nirvana, cut its breakout album, 'Nevermind'; and (b) part self-promotion for the DVD release of this very film and its companion CD soundtrack."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 15, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
92%
|
Jurassic Park: An IMAX 3D Experience (2013) |
"
Sentiment is explained by science as the family impulse that motivates so many Steven Spielberg stories is revealed to be an evolutionary imperative in this near-perfect action-adventure."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 15, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
62%
|
Evil Dead (2013) |
"
As is the rule for modern horror movies, the violence and language are uglier than before, but the people are a lot prettier."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
War Witch (2013) |
"
You're likely to ponder its images, its insights into a very foreign (for most of us) location and the tragic situation of Komona (and others like her) for a long time to come."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
92%
|
The Gatekeepers (2013) |
"
Both journalistic coup and unsettling confirmation of the idea that 'you can't make peace using military means.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
Caesar Must Die (2013) |
"
Destined to lose years in prison, the actors seem to take pride -- and solace -- in their association with something as seemingly immortal as Shakespeare's words."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
28%
|
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) |
"
Tea Party paranoia about Obama's alien identity and fascist agenda apparently motivated this disappointing sequel, which pits the Joes against an impostor U.S. president (Jonathan Pryce) working for the evil forces of Cobra."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
48%
|
Olympus Has Fallen (2013) |
"
America is emasculated when terrorists knock the tip off the Washington Monument; lucky for us, he-man Gerard Butler is nearby, to inject testosterone into the body politic and some knives into the bad guys' necks."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Apr 5, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
White Zombie (1932) |
"
It leads the viewer inside a fairy tale, not a slaughterhouse; it's expressionistic, not extreme. It affirms the power of the gesture, the shadow, the shudder. In other words: Who needs blood-red cannibalism when you've got a black-and-white Bela Lugosi?"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 29, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
45%
|
On the Road (2012) |
"
The filmmakers are intelligent and gifted, but they fail to provide a satisfying answer to the question facing anyone who might want to make a movie version of 'On the Road,' namely: Why bother?"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 29, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
18%
|
Parental Guidance (2012) |
"
Borscht Belt humor combines with serious schmaltz to produce this gummy formulaic family comedy."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 29, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
66%
|
Spring Breakers (2013) |
"
If there's a precedent, it may be 'The Devil in Miss Jones' (1973), the pornographic film that imagines hell as a place of eternal sex and no pleasure."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
4/4
|
67%
|
Stoker (2013) |
"
India Stoker is a girl with a spider inside her. That's a metaphor to suggest she is both victim and predator within her family web; Park literalizes the idea with shots of a spindly arachnid creeping up the girl's sock, toward her skirt."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
43%
|
Admission (2013) |
"
Career women, you will finds happiness by embracing your maternal instincts. Parents and high-school students, you are right to obsess over college. Tina Fey, continue your domestication process. These are among the depressing affirmations of 'Admission.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
69%
|
The Croods (2013) |
"
The humor's classic or prehistoric, depending on your tolerance for slapstick. The 3D animation is state of the art. And the life lessons are all too wearily contemporary."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
60%
|
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) |
"
The hackneyed message is about the importance of 'belief,' but in what? The idea that even the most talented and impressive women should move aside if a man wants to be in charge?"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 15, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
39%
|
The Call (2013) |
"
I never knew I wanted a movie in which a heroic 911 operator played by Halle Berry rescues the 'Little Miss Sunshine' girl from a Culture Club-loving serial killer until I saw 'The Call,' a project so ridiculous it turned my disbelief into elation."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 15, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
52%
|
Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) |
"
The action is exciting, but the stereotyping is irresponsible: Many of the primitive, savage, 'ugly' giants are vaguely ethnic (some have kinky African hair), while the attractive and 'normal' humans are entirely European."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
1.5/4
|
——
|
Osombie (2012) |
"
Poor undead Osama bin Laden and his "zombie insurgents": When you're expecting 72 virgins after death, it must be especially frustrating to be gifted instead with reanimated rotting flesh and a taste for human meat."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
1/4
|
50%
|
Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2013) |
"
Demonstrates with its narrative lassitude and overall dullness just how much Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal did right."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
65%
|
Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey (2013) |
"
The movie, to its credit, is smirk-free, but director Diaz fails to craft the material into much more than an infomercial."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
98%
|
56 Up (2013) |
"
We might say that '56 Up' serves much the same function as 'Amour,' but it responds to the inevitability of decline with compassion, not dread."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
95%
|
West of Memphis (2012) |
"
The film suggests these powerless, poorly educated young men were scapegoated because they would be missed by nobody of importance -- the justice system equivalent of the cannon fodder recruited from the same socioeconomic straits."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Mar 8, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
15%
|
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013) |
"
'Do you know what I hate about the Americans? Everything.' The fifth 'Die Hard' movie offers no evidence to dispute this Russian villain's opinion, as arrogant John McClane does more damage to the former Soviet republic than a hailstorm of meteorites."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 25, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
58%
|
Snitch (2013) |
"
Contrary to the suggestion of its misleading trailer, it's not really an action movie but a slow-burning and legitimate neo-noir -- the type of dark but not despairing feature that might have starred Glenn Ford in the 1950s."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 25, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
94%
|
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2012) |
"
She was a fashion-industry icon and taste-maker for decades, working at Harper's and then Vogue in an era when magazine publishing was as adventuresome as painting, filmmaking and music."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 25, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
93%
|
Amour (2012) |
"
Georges' irreversible decision may be courageous, but it requires no sacrifice on the part of his creator: for Haneke, it's business as usual."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 18, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
85%
|
Side Effects (2013) |
"
As smart and stylish as one would expect, but like Soderbergh's other recent artsy genre essays - 'Haywire,' 'Contagion' - its duller than its sources (in this case, 'Bigger Than Life,' 'Basic Instinct' and 'Psycho'). "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 18, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
——
|
Murder Is My Beat () |
"
Edgar G. Ulmer was Poverty Row's poet laureate of despair."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 8, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
20%
|
Identity Thief (2013) |
"
The film has too many characters, too much sentiment and too much time-wasting side material and phony-baloney 'motivation,' when the only thing it needs is to let McCarthy do her thing. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 8, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
80%
|
Warm Bodies (2013) |
"
Derided pre-release as a zomromcom 'Twilight' wannabe, the movie in fact revivifies a tired, dare we say dead genre, returning it to its Romero roots: It works best as a screwball social and cultural satire."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 8, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
47%
|
Bullet to the Head (2013) |
"
With a cracked-asphalt voice, a shaved-wildebeest hide, the veined musculature of Swamp Thing and the apparent flexibility of a tree trunk, the aging Sylvester Stallone remains a commanding, amusing and somewhat awe-inspiring screen presence."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 8, 2013
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
Holy Motors (2012) |
"
The movie is a puzzle meant to be played and enjoyed, not solved. As Oscar asserts: 'We're having a ball in the back of beyond.'"
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 1, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
14%
|
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) |
"
In the 1960s and 70s, violent witch movies offered anti-establishment critiques of fascist witch-hunt intolerance; in 2013, a violent witch movie asks the audience to cheer the torture of suspects and to affirm the slaughter of 'the other' as escapism."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Feb 1, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
59%
|
The Last Stand (2013) |
"
Satisfied customers may include undiscriminating action fans, Luis Guzman completists and Wayne LaPierre (one bad guy meets his reward when he trespasses on the property of a shotgun-toting granny)."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 25, 2013
|
|
3/4
|
65%
|
Mama (2013) |
"
For about two-thirds of its length, it promises to be a masterpiece of its type. It eventually succumbs to the Hollywood contagions of too much CGI and too much MUCHness; the title ghost, for example, loses its power as it becomes too active and visible."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 25, 2013
|
|
2/4
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013) |
"
Re-edited in the wake of the Aurora massacre, the film definitely misses its excised Grauman's Chinese Theatre shootout, which might have helped justify its movie-obsessed unreality. "
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 25, 2013
|
|
2.5/4
|
79%
|
Quartet (2013) |
"
Coasts on the charm of its performers, the gloss of the visuals (the cinematography by John de Borman keeps us alert to Hedsor House's loveliness) and the genteel fantasy of its oh-so-civilized setting."
—
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Posted Jan 25, 2013
|
47%
33%
94%
99%
65%
61%
