3.5/4
|
Nebraska
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Payne's most accomplished and emotionally affecting movie since his masterwork, About Schmidt (2002)
Posted Feb 27, 2014
|
3.5/4
|
The Wolf of Wall Street
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Absorbing performances, stylistic wit, a lacerating and subversive sense of humor: The Wolf of Wall Street delivers all of these in spades
Posted Jan 18, 2014
|
2.5/4
|
Inside Llewyn Davis
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
The film has a frustrating, neither-here-nor-there quality.
Posted Jan 17, 2014
|
3/4
|
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
It's natural to be repelled by Jackson's commercial- and franchise-minded motives ... but, ultimately, he delivers escapist entertainment that functions as the cinematic equivalent of comfort food.
Posted Jan 13, 2014
|
2/4
|
American Hustle
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
more successful than any of the cons on-screen is the con Hustle plays on its audience,
Posted Jan 02, 2014
|
3/4
|
Her
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Her does American cinema proud
Posted Dec 20, 2013
|
2/4
|
All Is Lost
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
the Cliffs Notes version of the deeper, more profound character study that never transpires on-screen
Posted Dec 17, 2013
|
2/4
|
Dallas Buyers Club
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
It is everything cheap, shallow and pandering about American independent cinema.
Posted Dec 13, 2013
|
4/4
|
12 Years a Slave
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
The film of the decade.
Posted Nov 15, 2013
|
3/4
|
Gravity
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
a cinematic spectacle without equal
Posted Oct 03, 2013
|
2.5/4
|
Before Midnight
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Before Midnight is no romance. It's a horror movie.
Posted Jul 05, 2013
|
3/4
|
World War Z
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Pitt's soulful performance lends World War Z real heart and strength.
Posted Jun 30, 2013
|
2/4
|
White House Down
(2013)
|
Jay Antani
|
Had director Emmerich allowed the chain reaction of comic chemistry sparked by these leads to carry the film, there's no telling how good White House Down could've been.
Posted Jun 30, 2013
|
3.5/4
|
The Way Back
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
a solid, resonant meditation on survival, on hope, on the value of life in the face of implacable hostility, portrayed memorably by an excellent cast and [Director] Weir's vast, brutal, awe-inspiring landscapes
Posted Feb 16, 2013
|
3/4
|
Zero Dark Thirty
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
Purely as cinematic exercise, Zero Dark Thirty is an exhilarating piece of work. But, beyond its for-the-times subject matter, the work does not linger whatsoever.
Posted Feb 13, 2013
|
2.5/4
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
a drag-down, mildly diverting entertainment
Posted Jan 10, 2013
|
3/4
|
Silver Linings Playbook
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
delivers the kind of sharply timed laughs that Sturges and Wilder would've appreciated
Posted Dec 06, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
Lincoln
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
There is directorial mastery here, and, even for those like me for whom the power of Lincoln is a percolating realization, one thing is certain: The performance by Daniel Day-Lewis is astonishing.
Posted Nov 24, 2012
|
3/4
|
Flight
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
As A-list substance-abuse melodramas go, this one lands safely enough.
Posted Nov 14, 2012
|
2/4
|
Skyfall
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
Who pays the price for Skyfall? Bond fans do, of course. But so does Daniel Craig. He's not going to be around forever - not in this shape, anyway.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
|
3/4
|
Moon
(2009)
|
Jay Antani
|
Intriguing, imaginative, and thematically ambitious, Moon gives ample proof that Jones is a serious talent, pushing his concepts into intellectually and spiritually challenging territory.
Posted Nov 08, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
Looper
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
Looper is among the cleverest, most skillfully crafted and entertaining sci-fi thrillers of the past 20 years.
Posted Nov 02, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
Argo
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
Argo is among the worthiest spy thrillers to come out of Hollywood in years, and it puts to rest (at least for this reviewer) any doubts over Affleck's chops as a smart, shrewd director of consistently topnotch fare.
Posted Oct 29, 2012
|
3/4
|
Mr. Arkadin
(1955)
|
Jay Antani
|
a mesmerizing experience, a schizoid crime caper that's half-potboiler and half-reverie
Posted May 30, 2012
|
3/4
|
Hugo
(2011)
|
Jay Antani
|
the most soulful, most personal fiction film in [Scorsese's] career
Posted Feb 24, 2012
|
3/4
|
Chronicle
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
an enjoyable spin through the tropes of the superhero origin story
Posted Feb 13, 2012
|
3/4
|
The Grey
(2012)
|
Jay Antani
|
Aside from Neeson's top-caliber performance...the movie's got several excellent set pieces...
Posted Feb 13, 2012
|
4/4
|
The Ground Truth
(2006)
|
Jay Antani
|
perhaps the most important protest statement yet committed to film since the outbreak of [the Iraq War]
Posted Feb 06, 2012
|
2/4
|
Jesus Camp
(2006)
|
Jay Antani
|
Jesus Camp doesn't just preach to the converted, it bores and frightens them.
Posted Feb 06, 2012
|
2/4
|
Resident Evil: Afterlife
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
The occasional flashes of imagination aside, "Afterlife" epitomizes what movies written largely by software and marketing committees look like
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
1.5/4
|
The Refuge
(2009)
|
Jay Antani
|
Ozon masks his lack of sensitivity to the material with his characteristic cerebral detachment and pretense to subtlety.
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
2/4
|
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
the story's inherent sense of fantasy and genuinely felt moments of exhilaration...and danger...keeps us engaged - for a time, at least
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
2/4
|
Barry Munday
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
D'Arienzo's screenplay and direction goes for a cross between naturalism and absurdity, but it's largely a queasy, oil-and-water blend.
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
2.5/4
|
Inside Job
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
As a documentary, this is a clear-eyed, steadily building prosecution against Wall Street. But, in the end, Ferguson's film is just a moot trial in which the defendants have already escaped scot-free.
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
2.5/4
|
Red
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
The cast's efforts go about halfway to compensating for Red's lack of inspiration elsewhere.
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
2.5/4
|
Cool It
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
That this documentary is solution-oriented rather than fear-oriented as so many recent ones...have been is itself a reason for touting it.
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
1/4
|
How Do You Know
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
What happened to James L. Brooks?
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
3/4
|
Mumbai Diaries
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
a refreshing, well-meaning entry in India's new brand of globally savvy cinema, [which] augurs exciting things from [director] Rao and her peers
Posted Jan 30, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
The Last Lions
(2011)
|
Jay Antani
|
an extraordinary achievement
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
2.5/4
|
Black Death
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
Bean owns this movie.
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
2/4
|
I Am
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
a well-meaning metaphysical inquiry that hits all the right sentiments but manages precious little substance
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
3/4
|
Trophy Wife
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
Catherine Deneuve continues her run as world cinema's most gracefully aging actress.
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
3/4
|
Miral
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
Miral overrides its screenwriting flaws with Schnabel's uncanny sense of film art.
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
3/4
|
Wretches & Jabberers
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
It's by engaging with all these extraordinary people that the film's beauty reveals itself.
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
2/4
|
The Double Hour
(2009)
|
Jay Antani
|
most of The Double Hour doesn't really need to exist in order for the viewer to process the impact of the finale
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
2.5/4
|
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
Adroit editing, camerawork and staging keep in step with Yen's formidable martial arts mastery, showcasing a talent on par with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
The First Grader
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
achieves a poignant, humanist sincerity
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
2/4
|
True Legend
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
suffers from an erratic narrative pace, shoddy characters and an overuse of digital gimmickry, all of which create the impression of an ersatz epic spectacle
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
3.5/4
|
The Last Mountain
(2011)
|
Jay Antani
|
trenchant, impassioned
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|
1.5/4
|
Film Socialisme
(2010)
|
Jay Antani
|
likely to be an unbearable experience for anyone other than for Godard himself and his most hardcore adherents
Posted Jan 27, 2012
|