|
78%
|
Iron Man 3 (2013)
|
"Crackerjack popcorn entertainment done right, Iron Man 3 is a robust example of what Hollywood can do right when it puts its mind to it."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
18%
|
Aroused (2013)
|
"An uncommonly intelligent doc exploration of the inner lives of 16 women in the adult film industry; has an easy, unforced quality to go with its acuity, allowing the humanity and vulnerability of its subjects to come through."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
16%
|
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2013)
|
"A light (and slight) surrealistic comedy of emotional waywardness -- intriguing enough to qualify as a playful lark."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
47%
|
The Lords of Salem (2013)
|
"Zombie fails to fully wrestle to the ground any of the movie's themes in an engaging or meaningful way... so its swan-dive into arbitrariness from the second act on is fairly complete."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
——
|
Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington (2013)
|
"A warm, fitting capstone for a man who saw the best in people during some of the worst circumstances, and helped notably reshape notions of war photography."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
——
|
Phil Spector (2013)
|
"A strange thing -- a film that at times feels like it's trying to cancel out the very reason for its existence -- powered by the magnetic watchability of its two leads."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
91%
|
Gimme The Loot (2013)
|
"A slim, low-budget coming-of-age tale whose richness lies entirely in its interstices. A keenly observed work that celebrates the unfettered joys of youth, and rewards by reminding of the power of a simple tale told well."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
56%
|
Oblivion (2013)
|
"A boldly rendered film with faulty nuts, bolts and wiring is still, at its core, a movie that doesn't work. Witness Oblivion."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
66%
|
The We and the I (2013)
|
"An artful, scrambled, energetic blend of youthful connection and hormonally charged carousing [that] works more as a caffeinated conveyance of feeling than an actual plotted story."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
89%
|
Koch (2013)
|
"The gift of Koch is that it embraces the clutter and volume of opinion about the man."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
29%
|
Upside Down (2013)
|
"What begins as a grand concept full of unusual possibilities quickly succumbs to a frustrating mixture of pretentiousness and torpor in this threadbare narrative that unfolds in perpetual pursuit of memorable images over narrative sense."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
55%
|
The Company You Keep (2013)
|
"A decidedly American story of graying moral certitude to match graying temples, Robert Redford's ninth film as a director is about secrets, principles and the melting value of absolutes."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
89%
|
A Place at the Table (2013)
|
"A smart, poignantly argued documentary [which] casts obesity and hunger as neighbors, and makes a persuasive case for important social investments."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
83%
|
Uprising (2013)
|
"The authoritative behind-the-scenes snapshot of a watershed event in human history -- the first digital age people's revolution."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
44%
|
Thale (2013)
|
"Ultimately all wind-up -- a work that dances around a couple moods and genres without ever really wholeheartedly committing to one in particular."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
98%
|
Beware Of Mr. Baker (2012)
|
"By turns sad and darkly comedic, but never less than mesmerizing -- a moving and morally conflicted portrait of a true questing spirit."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
96%
|
Blancanieves (2013)
|
"A loving tribute to European silent films of the 1920s; a reminder that cinema need not be constrained by words."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
66%
|
Spring Breakers (2013)
|
"An audacious, synth-pop mélange of ecstatic heaven and drugged-out hell -- an allegory for the corruption of innocence and the fear of blossoming female sexuality."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
77%
|
42 (2013)
|
"Skimming pleasantly enough along the surface of more potentially roiling drama, and lacking an inner boil, 42 is a biopic of carefully crafted but ultimately superficial uplift."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
94%
|
Room 237 (2013)
|
"Powered by a deep and abiding affection for both The Shining and Kubrick in general, Room 237 is an amuse-bouche of remix culture."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
8%
|
K-11 (2013)
|
"A pulpy, psychologically hollow and emotionally indiscernible mélange of phony jailhouse intrigue and showy gender-politicking, with a bit of anal rape sprinkled in."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
40%
|
Mental (2013)
|
"If one wants to see Toni Collette light a fart on fire, well, this misguided reunion with her Muriel's Wedding director may be the only chance they get."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
56%
|
Come Out And Play (2013)
|
"An unnerving, humid slice of elemental horror that conjures up memories of Children of the Corn by way of George Romero. It mostly works, until it doesn't."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
69%
|
The Croods (2013)
|
"The Croods tells a pleasant story about family, the utility of man, and letting go -- all of which I will demonstrate in review with caveman-speak."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
87%
|
Trashed (2012)
|
"A vividly sketched doc of environmental warning which deploys co-producer Jeremy Irons as its inquisitive guide, Candida Brady's film serves as a compelling indictment of modern profligacy."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
75%
|
Murph: The Protector (2013)
|
"A moving chronicle of some of the traits that should be more widely venerated in a media and pop cultural landscape too driven by the elevation of the trivial."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
94%
|
The Bitter Buddha (2013)
|
"Forget the tears of a clown as it pertains to inner psychology of a comedian -- what about the rage of a clown? That's the principal focus of The Bitter Buddha, a doc that's too polite and removed."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
57%
|
The Power Of Few (2013)
|
"A jumbled, offbeat mash-up of conspiracy-tinged action and armchair philosophizing that is hamstrung by a strange combination of slapdash plotting and its own self-importance."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
10%
|
If I Were You (2012)
|
"An odd little duck of a film [that] kicks around enjoyably for a while in the same sandbox as some of Woody Allen's mid-career farces, before eventually pivoting and skipping off into less rewarding territory."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
80%
|
Warm Bodies (2013)
|
"A funky, fresh tale of adolescent self-doubt and blossoming love funneled through the prism of post-apocalyptic zombiedom, Warm Bodies conjures a lovely, commingled tone of wistfulness and witticism."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
39%
|
The ABCs of Death (2013)
|
"Weighed down by some sub-par entries and lacking some great genre minds, this compilation overall pales in comparison to other recent anthologies."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
28%
|
Knife Fight (2013)
|
"A fun, tack-sharp political drama with satirical underpinnings, buoyed by crisp characterizations."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
87%
|
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2013)
|
"A stirring meditation on the human spirit in extreme conditions, Happy People also reflects Herzog's passion and fascination for the often unforgiving nature of the wild."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
15%
|
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
|
"Unquestionably the worst entry of the once-great action franchise and, worse, totally drained of the vital spirit, charm and meticulous smarts that made the original movie such a breath of fresh air."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
57%
|
$ellebrity (2013)
|
"A smart, noteworthy socio-cultural snapshot, $ellebrity evinces a surprising depth."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
65%
|
The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2013)
|
"An art collage project that unnecessarily obscures its sizzle and raison d'être when a more straightforward tack would have worked better."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
71%
|
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)
|
"A wildly engaging documentary that not only details the exploits of Anonymous, but also delves substantively inside the roots and culture of the group."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
60%
|
John Dies at the End (2013)
|
"Sort of like if Franz Kafka drank a bunch of absinthe and then wrote an homage to Sam Raimi, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Donnie Darko. And that's a good thing"
|
Brent Simon
|
|
100%
|
The Waiting Room (2012)
|
"One of 2012's better documentaries... the gut-punch effectiveness of Peter Nicks' film lies in its forthrightness, and how it avoids speechifying."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
60%
|
Electoral Dysfunction (2012)
|
"An irreverent, civics-minded offering that's catnip for politicos and documentary film fans."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
93%
|
Girl Model (2012)
|
"A vivid and surprisingly emotive exploration of fashion modeling and the refracted reality and cost of the economic opportunities it presents for prepubescent Eastern European girls in particular."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
37%
|
The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best (2012)
|
"An offbeat, hipster-inflected road movie that steadfastly refuses to conform to expectation and sense. A to-scale victory of quirky charm and feeling over sagacity."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
93%
|
The Trouble with the Truth (2012)
|
"A spare but winning romantic drama that taps into the same talky, intellectually stimulating vein as Richard Linklater's Sunrise/Sunset collaborations with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
81%
|
In Another Country (2013)
|
"An intriguing little cross-cultural curio that plays like a woozy, jazz-improv riff on romantic futility and destiny."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
64%
|
The Good Doctor (2012)
|
"A solidly constructed little character study of dark romantic bloom commingled with slipping-knot mental instability."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
78%
|
The Ambassador (2012)
|
"A wild, darkly comic slice of nonfiction branded 'performative journalism' by its creator. Ballsy, attention-grabbing and a lot of fun for anyone with an interest in matters geopolitical."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
85%
|
Side Effects (2013)
|
"A moody, neo-noir-style psychological drama with thick, intertwined veins of tragedy, romantic obsession, legal consequence and revenge."
|
Brent Simon
|
|
52%
|
Where Do We Go Now? (2012)
|
|
Brent Simon
|
|
65%
|
The Campaign (2012)
|
|
Brent Simon
|
|
50%
|
FrackNation (2013)
|
"FrackNation starts from a bogus and willfully cordoned off point-of-view, and exhibits a desire to grind axes more than uncover truth."
|
Brent Simon
|
78%
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