|
86%
|
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
|
"At its best, Star Trek Into Darkness is Cumberbatch; at its worst, it's cumbersome."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
49%
|
The Great Gatsby (2013)
|
"I went into a dark tavern after I saw Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. I wanted to get over the stilted, garish glitz - the 1920s embalmed in bloated bronze."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
78%
|
Iron Man 3 (2013)
|
"I've got 3D, but I want 4D. And 5D when it is concocted."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
98%
|
Mud (2013)
|
"Like great directors before him -- Hitchcock, Polanski, Altman, et al. -- Nichols uses duality with real skill and impact."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
55%
|
The Company You Keep (2013)
|
"Robert Redford -- who once was an active liberal -- is now a tired capitalist. He's also a worn-out egotist."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
56%
|
Oblivion (2013)
|
"In Oblivion, Cruise has more chemistry with drones than with his two love interests."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
68%
|
Trance (2013)
|
"Trance is an elaborate tease. Trance is more mindless than mind-bending."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
77%
|
42 (2013)
|
"There should be a Lifetime Sports channel. 42 would be a good movie for it"
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
82%
|
The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)
|
"The Place Beyond the Pines is ten pounds of film stuffed into a five-pound movie."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
69%
|
The Croods (2013)
|
"No wonder it's doing so well at the box office."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
37%
|
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)
|
"In The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Jim Carrey makes a great freak, and Carell and Buscemi are total geeks."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
——
|
That Guy... Who Was in That Thing ()
|
"The film gives a greater insight into the lives of character actors. It brings them out of the shadows."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
——
|
History Of The Eagles: Part 1 ()
|
"The Eagles live in both the present and the past."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
15%
|
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
|
"Those going to see the latest John McClane movie (the 5th), expecting another smart and sassy Die Hard, instead get Transformers, Part 12."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
85%
|
Side Effects (2013)
|
"Hitch used illogic, but he never plummeted into hokum as Side Effects does."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
47%
|
Bullet to the Head (2013)
|
"Bullet to the Head is a blunt movie with a blunt star. It's also bluntly entertaining."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
56%
|
Fairhaven (2013)
|
"It's difficult to dislike Fairhaven, because it is a promising, earnest effort."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
93%
|
Amour (2012)
|
"A viewer may want to watch Amour, because it is a work of art."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
82%
|
De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) (2012)
|
"A lesser director would not have breathed life into Rust and Bone, but Audiard directs with skill and sensitivity, even when his characters lack those attributes."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
89%
|
Compliance (2012)
|
"Zobel has proposed an intriguing, disturbing concept. But he makes leaps. Compliance is a good film. I wish it had been a little better."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
88%
|
Django Unchained (2012)
|
"Django Unchained is part Red Bull and part bloody bubble bath. It's a hoot and a holler."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
51%
|
Promised Land (2013)
|
"Promised Land is no Good Will Hunting (1997). It brings back director Gus Van Sant and actor Matt Damon, but it's another example of you can't go home again."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
79%
|
Quartet (2013)
|
"So often today, the older generation rejects movies because they think they're not for them. But Quartet is."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
69%
|
Not Fade Away (2012)
|
"The British invasion of rock 'n' roll was upon America, and David Chase remembers the time with both fond and bitter memories."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
93%
|
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
|
"Zero Dark Thirty is a skillful -- and somewhat cautious -- look at military bureaucracy. It's both hampered and elevated by its dependence on authenticity."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
81%
|
The Impossible (2012)
|
"One might leave the theater wondering how much can one be entertaining by suffering?"
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
65%
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
|
"Seeing The Hobbit is like going to a timeshare presentation. First you have to sit through the boring stuff before you can take advantage of the spectacular benefits."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
69%
|
Les Misérables (2012)
|
"Les Misérables is as sodden as a tear-filled hankie. Director Hooper gets bogged down by the bulk of his movie."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
——
|
The Long Green Line (2008)
|
"This documentary, written and directed by Matthew Arnold, captures the vulnerability, naivete, and pretension of youth. He focuses on the student athletes and their irrepressible coach."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
92%
|
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
|
"When you make a movie set in Philly, you'd better get it right. Knowledgeable Eagles' fans may find Russell's sense of history maddening."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
88%
|
Life of Pi (2012)
|
"Life of Pi is not a shaggy-tiger story. It is a tale of tantalizing imagination."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
89%
|
Lincoln (2012)
|
"The best aspect of Lincoln is the stellar performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln. Day-Lewis always is devoted to finding the authenticity."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
94%
|
The Sessions (2012)
|
"Popular sex therapist Dr. Ruth once said that sexual surrogates are "illegal." The Sessions makes them mainstream."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
63%
|
Hitchcock (2012)
|
"Hitchcock takes us through the struggle, travail, and rejections that faced Hitch as he tried to make a new kind of movie. We perhaps forget how revolutionary Psycho was in 1960. No one had ever done what Hitchcock was attempting."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
78%
|
Flight (2012)
|
"Robert Zemeckis directs unevenly from an erratic screenplay by John Gatins. Flight basically is a shaky character study, but its strength is a terrific action sequence, as the pilot struggles trying to control his plummeting plane."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"Where have you gone, 007? Skyfall has transformed you from the human, vulnerable, skillful spy into a Superhero Bond. In Skyfall, Bond is part Aquaman and part Road Runner, with some familial angst pilfered from Bruce Wayne. He's become an action toy."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
96%
|
Shifty (2008)
|
"Shifty is low-key, low budget, but high grade. It's a film about sitting and talking. And drug dealing. It builds slowly - some may want more action, but it has a surprisingly satisfying conclusion."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
96%
|
Argo (2012)
|
"Argo is a skillful, dramatic entertainment. It's slick. But in its rush to be "feel-good," Argo sacrifices a lot - such as depth and credibility. It has thrills and laughs; it just doesn't have much substance."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
85%
|
End of Watch (2012)
|
"End of Watch avoids many of the conventions of other cop movies and goes its own way. But then it veers back to the easy, most conventional of modes. End of Watch is a moral tale that unfortunately misplaces its truth."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
86%
|
The Master (2012)
|
"Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master baits the audience. One may admire The Master for its scope, style, and maybe some of the acting, but its vision is myopic."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
93%
|
Looper (2012)
|
"Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the loopy looper, has to time travel into another time to kill himself (Bruce Willis) so that he doesn't make bad movies. No, that's not it. So he can avoid Demi Moore. No. Oh, forget it."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
51%
|
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
|
"Trouble with the Curve should be titled Trouble with the Cliche. It was not written by a hitter; it was written by a hacker. It's depressing to think that Clint Eastwood's final screen appearance may be in this junkball movie."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
87%
|
Arbitrage (2012)
|
"Arbitrage is the latest in a long line of movies with touches of Alfred Hitchcock's DNA. The film reverberates with themes such as deception, ethical ambiguity, and the impact of fate."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
87%
|
Robot & Frank (2012)
|
"Robot & Frank is an airy, engaging flight of fancy. It's also part caper film, part character study, and part allegory about aging. Robot & Frank shouldn't work, but it does."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
64%
|
Cosmopolis (2012)
|
"David Cronenberg takes a wayward shot at making a film out of Don DeLillo's artful novel Cosmopolis. Cronenberg's version drones and flounders."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
67%
|
Lawless (2012)
|
"In Lawless, character wins out amidst the brutal assaults and onslaughts. The Bondurant brothers are outlaws, but they have a strong sense of frontier justice. Just like a good western does."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
95%
|
Side by Side (2012)
|
"In Side by Side, editor Walter Murch states, "In a way, film was the church of the 20th century." But the church of film is shutting its doors. Stained glass is being replaced by digital imagery. A new religion is on its relentless way."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
79%
|
Ruby Sparks (2012)
|
"Ruby Sparks goes beyond quirky fluff and deals with relationships. Zoe Kazan rides her screenplay on a high-altitude flight of imagination. Although there's an occasional bump on the way, the landing is smooth."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
56%
|
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
|
"The Bourne Legacy moves on, and takes us on a spirited journey. Stow your baggage, and it's a trip well worth taking."
|
Tony Macklin
|
|
88%
|
Neil Young Journeys (2012)
|
"Neil Young Journeys does for some of us what a rare film can do - it revives and renews our spirit. Neil Young and Jonathan Demme. Heart and soul. Wisdom and age. Fire and ashes. Lightning and thunder."
|
Tony Macklin
|
78%
36%
100%
85%
45%
40%
