>
B. Ruby Rich
Tomatometer-approved critic
(Photo Credit: Matt Carr/ Stringer/ Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Traffic (2000) |
While the film does well at imagining a world cut loose from moral quadrants, where right and wrong are not clear choices and all decisions seem tainted by compromise, its imagination is confined to a US model. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Sep 06, 2023
|
|
|
|
Mulholland Dr. (2001) |
If, in the end, Mulholland Drive is too clever by half, no matter. Lynch's superb command of mise en scène makes his images and situations their own reward, rendering even the simplest gesture creepy and imbuing any innocence with evil. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Jul 11, 2023
|
|
|
|
Confessions of a Congressman (1978) |
[A] shrewdly provocative thriller. - Village Voice
Read More
| Posted Aug 17, 2022
|
|
|
|
Monsoon Wedding (2001) |
Deliriously joyous. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Son's Room (2001) |
Nanni Moretti has made a career's worth of film grounded in humor, but here he has turned serious. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Time Out (2001) |
Here, [Cantet] seems to tell us, nothing can compare with the violence experienced by any human caught up in mindless white-collar management, whether working or laid off. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
La ciénaga (2001) |
La Ciénaga does what cinema at its best can do: It reveals a universe we've never even imagined and then gets us to look differently at both the society and medium we'd underestimated. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Fat Girl (2001) |
From its tranquil beginning to its shocking finish, Fat Girl shows Breillat to be a world-class artist working at the top of her form -- even when the lessons of gender, sexuality and social custom may be hard to swallow. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
(undefined) |
The confused editing might boggle the mind, but Dear Fidel's central subject never fails to fascinate. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Old Cats (2010) |
A masterful cast, patient camera, narrative immediacy, and tremendous compassion all combine to make Old Cats an utter jewel of a drama. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Crime After Crime (2011) |
The documentary and the case became entangled in fascinating ways and suggest that filmmakers may have more power than they usually think they do. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Interrupters (2011) |
A one-woman peace squad, [Ameena Matthews] burns up the screen whenever she's on it. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) |
The result is astonishing, for stereotypes have long since replaced the vivid realities of that moment; now, revivified, its actors spin back into action, misconceptions corrected, history set straight. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Another Earth (2011) |
All believably rendered with great economy. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Perfect Sense (2011) |
Scottish director David Mackenzie's Perfect Sense, play with the best kind of futurism: just like today, except for one crucial difference. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Future (2011) |
Despite the brilliant July touches... the tone became too winsome, the narrative too forced, the performances too twee. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (2011) |
Pointed jokes and sweetheart ending mark Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same as a modern-day lesbian fairy tale. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Pariah (2011) |
The tone is tragicomic, the genre is coming-of-age, and the execution is impeccable. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Circumstance (2011) |
With an eye for detail and atmosphere reminiscent of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta, [Maryam] Keshavarz nimbly reworks the diaspora narrative with a fresh, stylish, sexy style. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Keep the Lights On (2012) |
This gay domestic drama is a fascinating turn for Sachs. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
5 Broken Cameras (2011) |
A documentary that needs to be seen in the U.S. and around the world: its evidence of the campaign of terror waged on Palestinian villages in Gaza by the Israeli military is incontrovertible. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Young & Wild (2011) |
Young and Wild is an impressive artistic achievement that etches a lineage back to Lucrecia Martel's The Holy Girl and Catherine Breillat's A Real Young Girl. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The House I Live In (2012) |
Elegantly edited [and] thoroughly researched... Deservedly took the jury award for best U.S. documentary. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
We're Not Broke (2011) |
The history is shocking, the data stunning. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
How to Survive a Plague (2012) |
For anybody who doubts that individuals can combat giant governmental and corporate forces and win, this is a great how-to manual. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) |
A monumentally original fable. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Big Sur (2013) |
Sparked an awareness of drama and documentary's interconnectedness and the impossibility of truly separating their elements in a digital age. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Stories We Tell (2012) |
The pay-off that Polley leads us to is real enough to hang a movie on. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Google and the World Brain (2013) |
Clearly the editing wasn't finished... yet the passions captured over 24 months by Nezhat's cameras and a battalion of local chroniclers were undeniable. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
After Tiller (2013) |
This portrayal of [the doctors'] work, dedication, and grace under pressure is heart-breaking in so many ways. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Salma (2013) |
A haunting look at one remarkable woman's survival and triumph. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Stuart Hall Project (2013) |
In the end, audiences not well versed in the intricacies of Hall's career, and even some who are, will be lost - but then found through the remarkable scenes and sounds of a lifetime of Hall speeches, television interviews, and thoughts. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Pit Stop (2013) |
Yen Tan's gift for long takes and his comfort with silences makes demands on the audience that films ought to make - and pays them back with a surprising happy ending. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Anita (2013) |
Anita's ace in the hole is its archival footage, especially the riveting scenes of Hill's original testimony. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Concussion (2013) |
A crazy set-up, but this is one part screwball comedy, one part sex romp, so it works. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Interior. Leather Bar. (2013) |
[Travis] Matthews made a sophisticated bit of sexual time-travel that allowed Franco to create another bit of self-reflection. - Film Quarterly
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
Human, Too Human (1974) |
Malle fails to fulfill his promises, constantly opting for a cute portrait, a beautiful movement or - finally - a closing freeze frame to embody his message. Unfortunately, showing the audience a pretty image does not necessarily supply any meaning. - Jump Cut
Read More
| Posted Feb 28, 2020
|
|
|
|
(undefined) |
Back in the U.S., where the image of woman in Hollywood has changed all the way from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to An Unmarried Woman back to Kramer Versus Kramer ... well, Portrait of Teresa looks awfully good. - Jump Cut
Read More
| Posted Feb 27, 2020
|
|
|
|
Apocalypse Now (1979) |
One of the pleasures of Apocalypse Now is that Coppola never settles for a single explanation. - Jump Cut
Read More
| Posted Feb 27, 2020
|
|
|
|
Death of a Bureaucrat (1966) |
Death of a Bureaucrat is a fanciful satire that takes on the excesses of Kafkaesque bureaucracy at the same time that it pays loving homage to the excesses of early cinematic comedies. - Jump Cut
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2020
|
|
|
|
Set Me Free (1999) |
Pool has reached a new level entirely as writer-director of deeply emotional yet lightly humorous storytelling. Best of all, she's taken a genre known for its softness, the coming-of-age film, and put some bite into it. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2020
|
|
|
|
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
Beckham pointedly punctures English, Indian, and immigrant foibles despite a few jokes that are broad enough to hit the side of a barn. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2020
|
|
|
|
Woman on Top (2000) |
Shut off the analytic sector of your brain, and the rest of you can, have a thoroughly pleasant night out at the movie theater. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2020
|
|
|
|
Sound and Fury (2000) |
This is an intensely riveting, eye-and ear-opening journey into the culture of the deaf -- and the political battles unleashed there by the latest technological wonder. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
Read More
| Posted Feb 26, 2020
|
|
|
|
What Time Is It There? (2001) |
It's a hilarious conceit, which Tsai carries through with smart cinematic wit. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|
|
|
|
Waking Life (2001) |
Linklater and his animation collaborators have clearly had a lot of fun, morphing characters into their own conversational subjects, destabilizing their environs, throwing the material world into question. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Believer (2001) |
A traditional but well-made examination of one Danny Balint, a disgruntled yeshiva student turned skinhead thug. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Sleepy Time Gal (2001) |
Much of the pleasure of viewing The Sleepy Time Gal lies in the transcendent performance of the great Jacqueline Bisset, who plays the eponymous heroine. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|
|
|
|
Trembling Before G-d (2001) |
Happily, the film has a hero: Rabbi Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, whose joyousness stands in marked contrast to the pervasive suffering. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|
|
|
|
The Back of the World (2000) |
Utterly free of didacticism, The Back of the World brushes its subjects with the luminosity of an oil painting. It's impossible to exit the theater unmoved. - The Nation
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2020
|