|
99%
|
A Separation (2011)
|
"Above all, Farhadi’s parable teaches that a rush to judgment inevitably turns back on the judge."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
72%
|
Big Miracle (2012)
|
"Perhaps the title sets an expectation Ken Kwapis’ movie can’t quite deliver."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
77%
|
The Grey (2012)
|
"Though it does thrill with intense, close-cropped action photography, swift editing, and vivid sound design, The Grey makes as much of an impression by being unexpectedly emotional."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
45%
|
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012)
|
"Except as a tool for pediatric grief counseling, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close amounts to a fetishization of its own trappings (the boy, NYC, 9/11) more interested in Oscar than Oskar."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
80%
|
Haywire (2012)
|
"Finds Soderbergh keeping it simple, stupid, by filling the story's hollowness with kick-butt action and elements of style."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
71%
|
Il Momento della Verita (The Moment of Truth) (1965)
|
"This fable of the disposable performer rising above his class transcends ordinary fiction to be an expressive visual record of the art of bullfighting: primal, brutal, repellent and magnetic in equal measure. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
71%
|
Carnage (2011)
|
"A slow disintegration of the thin veneer of social niceties, revealing the human animalism underneath. Like Reza's equally popular Art, God of Carnage isn't as deep as it would have you believe, but both plays are catnip for actors."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
91%
|
Sid & Nancy (1986)
|
"Oldman's mid-film music-video performance of 'My Way' before a neon staircase compares favorably-as a revelation of character through performance-to Robert De Niro's framing monologues in Raging Bull. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
74%
|
Fright Night (2011)
|
"While it's unspooling, it has enough visual snap, narrative tension, and humor for a satisfying 'drive-in movie' diversion. [3D Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
60%
|
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (2011)
|
"An orgiastic celebration of Glee concocted by its own creators...sort of like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but with more hot air. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
100%
|
Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993)
|
"Kieslowski...implies, not for the first or last time, a form of divine intervention or destiny at work... [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
91%
|
Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) (1994)
|
"Karol Karol embodies his homeland, going for broke--in criminal fashion, if necessary--to stake its claim as a player in the European landscape. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
98%
|
Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) (1994)
|
"Explores fraternity in large part as much through the dynamic of neighbors and community as through potential one-on-one friendships or romances. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
95%
|
The Guard (2011)
|
"Self-conscious gestures in the direction of fish-out-of-water comedies, buddy-cop movies and Westerns don't amount to much in and of themselves, but they tie together as a functional clothesline for character comedy... [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
61%
|
The Rocketeer (1991)
|
"A charmer in its gee-whiz, irony-light resuscitation of the movie serials of the '30s. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
84%
|
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
|
"Whether coolly dispatching a fly or eating a Wimpy burger with knife and fork, Oldman carefully makes every gesture part of his quiet revelation of character. "
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
63%
|
We Bought a Zoo (2011)
|
"Let me begin by saying something nice about Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo: kids will probably like it. Okay, that’s all I’ve got."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
83%
|
Dolphin Tale (2011)
|
"In the hands of actor-turned-director Charles Martin Smith, this kid-centric drama provides a welcome family option with positive values and a minimum of frantic, noisy CGI. It's a tale told on a human (and animal) scale."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
87%
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
|
"Fincher is perfectly suited to the material, with its voluminous clues to be organized and parsed, its emotional austerity, and its serial murder, rape, and sundry sick plot twists."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
80%
|
Shame (2011)
|
"A mood piece, as abstract and engrossing as the many Bach piano selections laid on the soundtrack."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
82%
|
Young Adult (2011)
|
"What ultimately makes Young Adult worth the trip is Theron’s uncompromising performance, which dares to make Mavis unlikeable and, in the process, earns our pity and, more disturbingly, our identification."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
93%
|
West Side Story (1961)
|
"A landmark screen musical that left its own indelible stamp on popular culture. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
8%
|
New Year's Eve (2011)
|
"I tell ya, I haven't heard this much talk about ball-dropping since the junior high locker room."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
97%
|
The Artist (2011)
|
"Though this pastiche has been crafted by film nerds and largely for them, Michel Hazanavicius' feature has an emotional generosity that speaks louder than words."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
84%
|
My Week with Marilyn (2011)
|
"Williams is better than the picture, but within the screenplay's constraints, she nails every possible nuance of physical and emotional expression. It's dazzling work, and reason alone to spend ninety-nine minutes "with Marilyn.""
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
90%
|
The Descendants (2011)
|
"If you see The Descendants, see it for Clooney (and Woodley), but don't believe the hype that it's one for the ages."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
97%
|
The Muppets (2011)
|
"Muppet News Flash! Your friends in felt are back on the big screen, ready and waiting to charm a new generation of...moppets. "
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
89%
|
Into The Abyss (2011)
|
"The interviews that make up the balance of the film yield plenty of oddities of modern American life."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
44%
|
Happy Feet Two (2011)
|
""It brings out my happy." For kids facing a potentially rough adulthood, it's probably a message worth hearing, maybe more than once."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
92%
|
Blue Velvet (1986)
|
"Works brilliantly as an allegory of American repression and willful illusion of order, Lumberton's forced-smile '50s sensibility unable to keep down the anarchic, raging id that is humanity's primal drive. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
91%
|
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
|
"A back-to-basics charmer evoking the Pooh short films from the '60s and '70s. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
78%
|
Melancholia (2011)
|
"The director's emotional sadism and laughable bluntness in his symbolic approach leave us in the cold, to pick through the art-auction catalog of Manuel Alberto Claro's cinematography and contemplate Dunst's award-winning suffering. "
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
90%
|
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
|
"At least, though the insights here aren't as plentiful as Durkin seems to think, Olsen's fine work as the off-balance, paranoid anti-hero helps to create that illusion."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
68%
|
Tower Heist (2011)
|
"Has the perfect "generic brand" title to match its Teflon blandness."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
47%
|
Anonymous (2011)
|
"From the man who brought you Godzilla and 2012...a loud and ludicrous historical rewrite about the supposed hidden authorship of Shakespeare's plays"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
89%
|
The Lion King (2011)
|
"It's not hard to understand why The Lion King's good-vs.-evil adventure and high-spirited comic passages haven't lost their appeal. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
86%
|
Jackie Brown (1997)
|
"Succeeds as a witty Elmore Leonard crime story...but also as a surprisingly affecting mid-life romance. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
95%
|
Pulp Fiction (1994)
|
"A balls-out postmodern comedy par excellence. It's a Royale with Cheese. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
35%
|
Space Jam (1996)
|
"If you weren't a kid when you first saw Space Jam, you're a lot less likely to find it palatable. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
92%
|
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
|
"A purely creative movie that one must admit has no equal in cinema history (for better or worse). [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
67%
|
The Bad Seed (1956)
|
"The dark drama that launched a genre of evil-kid movies. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
96%
|
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
|
"Not everything works out neatly for everyone, but life seems a little better by the end of two hours' struggle, for the characters and for the audience. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
60%
|
The Cutting Edge (1992)
|
"The only thing that could make The Cutting Edge more absurd would be if the final competition revolved around a potentially deadly, possibly illegal move called the Pamchenko Twist. Wait, it does? Never mind. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
92%
|
Take Shelter (2011)
|
"A Rod Serling-esque social allegory for these days of economic collapse, environmental sea change, and increasing talk of "end times.""
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
39%
|
The Big Year (2011)
|
"If the mere mention of the blue-footed booby sends you into paroxysms, The Big Year is the film for you."
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
61%
|
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
|
"The romantic comedy version of its setting: an overgrown theme park that momentarily amuses, wears down the body and spirit, but mentally stays behind. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
24%
|
A Guy Thing (2003)
|
"Cycles through the same old cliches, like squares accidentally being dosed with drugs, overzealous pharmacists blaring out sensitive medical information (nothing like a good ol' venereal disease joke), and climactically scotched weddings. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
33%
|
Wedding Daze (2007)
|
"Something of a train wreck...[but] comedy scavengers may find it worthwhile to pick through the remains for a few amusing gags. [Blu-ray]"
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
85%
|
The Ides of March (2011)
|
"Plays out like a game of high-stakes poker, mostly in shades of quiet, intense deliberation. "
|
Peter Canavese
|
|
29%
|
Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
|
"Butler delivers an unconvincing performance that's part and parcel of a phony film lacking in any narrative subtlety or finesse."
|
Peter Canavese
|
