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two stars
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Marlowe
(2022)
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Richard von Busack
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Neesom unfortunately even says “I’m getting too old for this” after a fight. There’s a line that should be banned from cinema. The young people in the audience aren’t convinced by the apology…and it just depresses the old people in the back row.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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3/5
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Mondo Hollywoodland
(2021)
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Richard von Busack
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Among Ambrose’s gifts are an ebullient and energetic feel for the lightness of LA, for the Robert Altman-style people-collage of exasperated women and child-like men.
Posted Dec 06, 2022
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4/5
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
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Richard von Busack
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Rowdier, richer, and sometimes a little more ungainly than its predecessor, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is more evidence that Rian Johnson is the most democratic director since Jonathan Demme.
Posted Nov 21, 2022
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Celebration
(2018)
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Sherilyn Connelly
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Though a document of an ostensible celebration, Celebration is never celebratory, and maybe that's the point.
Posted Dec 28, 2021
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Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11
(2021)
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Richard von Busack
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If there was any especially brave comedy moment during the first quivering month after the attack, that moment starred japemeister Gilbert Gottfried.
Posted Oct 07, 2021
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The Big Scary "S" Word
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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A rousing, well-edited study about the possibilities of democratic socialism.
Posted Aug 18, 2021
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The Green Knight
(2021)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Each time Lowery shows a strange or striking image - a skull that turns into a talking head or a blind woman silently observing a seduction -- it fades away without having any lasting impact.
Posted Aug 13, 2021
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Settlers
(2021)
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Richard von Busack
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It's a film without villains, only deluded or deceptive men, and it ends in a ferocious stalemate that counters the Biblical view of a man's duty to settle and dominate a bleak land.
Posted Aug 13, 2021
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The Sparks Brothers
(2021)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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As a director, Wright's career is suffused with proud geekery, and The Sparks Brothers has fanboy soul.
Posted Jul 01, 2021
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Tove
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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By the end, thanks to Pöysti's performance, even the meaning of the Moomintroll stories make more sense. She illuminates every aspect of Tove's artistic, idiosyncratic, endearing soul.
Posted Jun 11, 2021
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The Dark Hobby
(2021)
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Richard von Busack
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Paula Fouce' documentary exposes a savage problem lurking underneath one of the seemingly most benign of pastimes.
Posted May 24, 2021
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Tiny Tim: King for a Day
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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While this is a knowledgeable film and a genuine labor of love, the problem is right there in the title. He was king for more than a day - Tiny Tim was a remarkable talent who is overdue for a revival.
Posted May 10, 2021
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The Truffle Hunters
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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Think of The Truffle Hunters, then, as a COVID-break, leisurely paced, and soothing; a walk in the woods to cure trauma, as per Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River.
Posted Apr 16, 2021
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Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar
(2021)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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The movie delivers the same temporary high as a strawberry daiquiri, followed by the low, queasy sensation that sugar and alcohol are teaming up to fog up your frontal lobes.
Posted Apr 12, 2021
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Pieces of a Woman
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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The screenwriter, Kata Wéber, goes on to write several startling monologues for Burstyn's supporting performance. The speeches fill out her character so she doesn't come across as simply petty.
Posted Apr 12, 2021
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Voyagers
(2021)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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The diverse supporting cast in Voyagers recede into the background like silhouettes on a repeating pattern of wallpaper.
Posted Apr 09, 2021
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Wojnarowicz
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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[Wojnarowicz] resurrects his ghost for all of us to admire, even if it's from a wary distance.
Posted Apr 01, 2021
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French Exit
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Ultimately, French Exit is another sour variation on a theme that plays out in Francoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse.
Posted Apr 01, 2021
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The Courier
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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Starring and executive produced by Benedict Cumberbatch, The Courier has echoes of The Russia House's ingenuity.
Posted Mar 26, 2021
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Minari
(2020)
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Grace Z. Li
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Minari finds the ways in which faith -- in the American Dream, in each other -- can be both alluring and disappointing.
Posted Feb 18, 2021
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Nomadland
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The film vibrates with moral seriousness, but it misses all the best qualities of the book, where one learned about the ingenuity of the houseless as much as their plight.
Posted Feb 12, 2021
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Two of Us
(2019)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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What's astonishing about the film is how the director creates a sense of urgency for the separated lovers. And Sukowa's Nina is as indomitable as a superhero.
Posted Feb 12, 2021
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The Salt of Tears
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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The plot is indebted to every Eric Rohmer film concerned with the vagaries of love. But Garrel takes his characters more seriously than Rohmer does.
Posted Jan 29, 2021
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Supernova
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Macqueen's approach to his leading men is too respectful. Instead of zooming in close to get inside their heads, he keeps his distance, as does the audience.
Posted Jan 29, 2021
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Some Kind of Heaven
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The absolutely remarkable documentary Some Kind of Heaven was produced by (among others) Darren Aronofsky and the actress Lindsay Crouse. There may not be anything quite like it since Errol Morris started out.
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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The Midnight Sky
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The problem with this film is that it is terminally serious.
Posted Jan 15, 2021
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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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If it weren't for Boseman's fragile Levee and an indomitable Davis as his counterpoint, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom might have landed dryly, as a dutiful filmed version of the play.
Posted Jan 06, 2021
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Soul
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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This is one of Pixar's deepest and most melancholy animated comedies.
Posted Dec 29, 2020
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Let Them All Talk
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Streep's magic act here -- without shedding a tear -- is to draw out our sympathy for a character who, by all outward appearances, doesn't deserve any.
Posted Dec 17, 2020
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The Nest
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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It's a more intimate take on Wall Street's 1987 dictum that greed is good.
Posted Dec 10, 2020
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Kingdom of Silence
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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Khashoggi was a sometimes slippery man. Yet he was inarguably brave: "You are in a war, you cannot give up, you cannot disappear." His steadfastness shames our government tactics to go along and get along.
Posted Dec 10, 2020
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Collective
(2019)
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Richard von Busack
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Collective reflects the muckraking qualities of the much-missed Romanian new wave; it picks up where 2005's The Death of Mr. Lazarsecu ended, that fictional story of a dying old man shifted from one overbooked and uncaring Bucharest hospital to another.
Posted Dec 04, 2020
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Mank
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Mank's charms wear out quickly.
Posted Dec 04, 2020
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Vanguard
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The old master shares the screen with young talent - but something is missing.
Posted Nov 20, 2020
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Monsoon
(2019)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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It's an anti-melodramatic film that carefully foregrounds Kit's story against the tragic background of a country recovering from war.
Posted Nov 16, 2020
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Let Him Go
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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[Let Him Go,] from start to finish, retains the coiled tension of a bad-tempered rattlesnake. While all of the actors' performances are perfectly on point, either arousing sympathy or terror, the most surprising aspect of the movie is the direction.
Posted Nov 06, 2020
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On the Rocks
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Without some degree of animated turmoil at its center, On the Rocks melts down to become a flavorless, watery drink.
Posted Oct 26, 2020
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Roald Dahl's The Witches
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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I believed that Huston's witch would rid the planet of children without a second thought. In this remake, I believed in the relationship between the Grandmother and her grandson until Zemeckis overwhelmed them with his gadgets and hi-tech wizardry.
Posted Oct 26, 2020
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Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
(2020)
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Nick Veronin
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Watching Borat 2, one wonders what is candid camera, and what is improv.. .An easier question to answer is the question of what works best in this film. It's Tutar, plain and simple. Every time she's gone, she's badly missed.
Posted Oct 23, 2020
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Greyhound
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The depth Hanks brings to this almost eclipses the adventure, but mostly, Greyhound is a ripping yarn.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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You Don't Nomi
(2019)
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Richard von Busack
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Jeffrey McHale's entertaining documentary You Don't Nomi shows that the now 25 year old Showgirls is guilty of all charges.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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You Never Had It: An Evening With Bukowski
(2016)
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Richard von Busack
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Bukowski was a figure made for cinema.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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Bill & Ted Face the Music
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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While this isn't as smooth or as funny a 90-minute romp as the last one, it has a bit more depth.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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White Riot
(2019)
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Richard von Busack
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It's encouraging to see [Red] Saunders]... still around, demonstrating the long-lasting power of a really good idea.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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Public Trust
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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Public Trust is as full of well-photographed environmental rapture as a Disney nature film. But it has far more of a point, and much more of a reason to exist.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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Apocalypse '45
(2020)
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Richard von Busack
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The fights are clearer here, in color, and just as dramatic as ever.
Posted Oct 19, 2020
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The Personal History of David Copperfield
(2019)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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What's most surprising though about the film is that the characteristically caustic Iannucci not only tempers Dickens' sentimentality; he also warms the material up and makes it welcoming.
Posted Sep 24, 2020
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Sibyl
(2019)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Justine Triet's Sibyl descends from that old school tradition of softcore and heated melodramas. But the intervening years have informed her approach. She films her heroine from a self-empowered, and self-deluded, vantage point.
Posted Sep 17, 2020
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Antebellum
(2020)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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Antebellum is structured as a nightmare that shifts into a nightmare that's real. There isn't any dramatic advantage in this nonlinear structure.
Posted Sep 17, 2020
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Conviction (Une intime conviction)
(2019)
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Jeffrey Edalatpour
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With Conviction, [director Antoine] Raimbault revitalizes a tired genre, the courtroom drama.
Posted Sep 14, 2020
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