|
2.5/4
|
Napoleon
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
But the battles give us more spectacle than thrills, more action than suspense, leaving Kirby's charismatic, finely layered performance as the film's strongest asset. Kubrick would probably approve of her. After 116 takes...
Posted Nov 28, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Wish
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Do not Wish upon this star-crossed Disney animated musical.
Posted Nov 28, 2023
|
|
3.5
|
Alien
(1979)
|
Dann Gire
|
For all that Alien is -- science fiction, horror story, suspense tale, mystery -- above everything else it is a welcome throwback to the good old-fashioned monster movies of the 1950s.
Posted Nov 16, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Common Ground
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Common Ground tackles the unholy alliance of "big farma" chemical companies and Congress, so that lobbyists and political contributions make stock prices more important than American lives and health.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Priscilla
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Few Hollywood biographical dramas pack the risky level of exploitative and sensationalistic naughtiness nimbly negotiated in Priscilla.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
|
|
1/4
|
Five Nights at Freddy's
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
An intriguing premise undermined by simply terrible storytelling...
Posted Nov 03, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Epic themes. Epic settings. Epic camera work. Epic ending.
Posted Oct 18, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
The Creator
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
The best visual joke in The Creator? The subtle suggestion that AI humanoids might actually be smarter than humans. Even with literal holes in their heads.
Posted Sep 30, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Fair Play
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Fair Play is a smart, twisty mix of romance and corporate politics.
Posted Sep 30, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Lone Star
(1996)
|
Dann Gire
|
Just as he did in his ambitious, underrated City of Hope, Sayles seamlessly directs an ensemble cast through a story in which politics, personalities and desires become so tightly intertwined that it's impossible to separate them.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Moulin Rouge
(2001)
|
Dann Gire
|
Baz Luhrmann's highly anticipated $50 million musical Moulin Rouge! brazenly assaults the senses with rat-a-tat-tat editing, anachronistic pop songs and kaleidoscopic visuals placed in a setting stuck somewhere between Busby Berkeley and Timothy Leary.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
The Hill
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
The Hill celebrates a time-tested formula for dad-and-son baseball dramas.
Posted Aug 26, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
Strays
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
If watching talking canines constantly committing gnomosexual acts with inanimate yard statuary floats your boat, this might be your dream cruise. Otherwise, it could just give you a sinking sensation.
Posted Aug 18, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
That 61-year-old Cruise continues to perform as many of his own stunts as possible anchors the flimsy verisimilitude of these outlandish events.
Posted Jul 11, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
A sequel where the snappiest asset is Indy's whip.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
No Hard Feelings
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Percy, played with beguiling innocence and good will by a likable Feldman, may be unprepared for life, but he possesses a pure heart and an idealized view of love and sex. You want the best for him.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Asteroid City
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Asteroid City? A fun, nostalgically retro place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there for a full 104 minutes.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Elemental
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Elemental clearly belongs on Pixar's periodic table of animated features, right down to the bubbling chemistry between its two romantic leads and comic wit embedded in both words and visuals.
Posted Jun 17, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
The Little Mermaid
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
This remake fails to fix one key criticism of the original Little Mermaid: the sexist message that women must transform themselves to fit into their man's world...
Posted Jun 03, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
The Boogeyman
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
An atmospherically overwrought, suspense-challenged collection of easy scares and moldy cliches.
Posted Jun 03, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
McAdams, in what clearly qualifies as the personal best of her career, tells Margaret the unpleasant family history in a clear, deliberate voice, but her eyes betray the lingering pain and sadness that she refuses to express.
Posted May 17, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Polite Society
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
A boldly deranged, multi-pop-cultural movie...
Posted May 17, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Heavenly Creatures
(1994)
|
Dann Gire
|
Jackson proves he can master subtlety as well as excess.
Posted May 16, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Evil Dead Rise
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
A disappointingly derivative trauma-drama.
Posted Apr 22, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Graded by the volume of quality kills, call it a success of excess.
Posted Mar 27, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Moving On
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
The light laughs and dark drama don't mix well...
Posted Mar 17, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Boys on the Side
(1995)
|
Dann Gire
|
It's a simple story, but one filled with so many unexpected, instant detours and eccentric, evolving characters that Boys on the Side takes on a sheen of painful reality.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
9 to 5
(1980)
|
Dann Gire
|
Nine to Five is a genuine good time that pokes fun at a common target in corporate society, the boss.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Majors reigns as the de facto champ of this movie with a gravitas and world-weariness...
Posted Mar 03, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
The Other Fellow
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
A clever, engaging documentary...
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Somebody I Used To Know
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Dramatically flat...
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
Leave it to M. Night Shyamalan to turn a simple, creepy home invasion thriller into an apocalyptic tale steeped in the biblical Book of Revelations.
Posted Feb 04, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
80 for Brady
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
The screenplay's lame, but the dames are game all the same.
Posted Feb 04, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
|
Dann Gire
|
With The Big Lebowski, the Coens return to their Hudsucker Proxy ways, and despite Jeff Bridges' ability to humanize the cast, this anxiously awaited Fargo follow-up falls victim to the dreaded style-over-substance virus.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Missing
(2023)
|
Dann Gire
|
An energized, timely, tech-savvy thriller set in a scary surveillance state.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Eve's Bayou
(1997)
|
Dann Gire
|
The visually sumptuous and morally ambiguous Eve's Bayou possesses a strong sense of time and place, and makes for an auspicious first effort by actress-turned-writer/director Kasi Lemmons.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
|
|
|
The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
A movie that bleeds with authenticity for its locations and local culture. And bleeds for other reasons.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
The most fun I had at the movies in 2022.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Everything Everywhere All at Once
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
An exhausting, confusing, hilariously funny, pleasing assault on the ears and eyes from directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Bones and All
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
This unconventional horror tale/romance blends queasiness and sincerity with one of the year's best supporting performances by Mark Rylance.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Living
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
A lot of mirrors get used here (time for reflection?) in a life-affirming story that sucker-punches you with the fist of reality.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Tár
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
Cate Blanchett rocks the world of classical music as Lydia Tár.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Elvis
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
The story of the King has been told many times, but nothing like Baz Luhrmann's sensational, impressionistic take on Elvis Presley (played with pitch-perfect resonance by an explosively charismatic Austin Butler).
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
|
Women Talking
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
Sarah Polley's deft direction keeps the momentum moving as women victimized in an isolated religious community grapple with how to deal with a culture that sanctions sexual abuse and domination by selfish men.
Posted Jan 03, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
The perfectly-itched Puss has boots for walking away with your heart...
Posted Dec 23, 2022
|
|
3.5/4
|
Babylon
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
A frustrating, glorious, messy epic.
Posted Dec 23, 2022
|
|
4/4
|
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
Del Toro's dark vision strings Pinocchio along with enchanting fantasy, haunting intelligence.
Posted Dec 17, 2022
|
|
4/4
|
Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
|
Dann Gire
|
Pure, distilled, 3-D cinematic rapture.
Posted Dec 17, 2022
|
|
1/4
|
Deadly Friend
(1986)
|
Dann Gire
|
By the ridiculous, obligatory shockeroo finale, we can't escape the feeling Craven has played us all for schmucks.
Posted Dec 10, 2022
|
|
4/4
|
Groundhog Day
(1993)
|
Dann Gire
|
Beneath its veneer of of caustic laughs and touching romance is a subtle but profound spiritual odyssey.
Posted Dec 07, 2022
|
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