|
|
Brave Miss World
(2013)
|
Marty Mapes
|
...as admirable as the subject of Brave Miss World is, the documentary focuses too much on Miss World and not enough on her work.
Posted Dec 08, 2020
|
|
3/4
|
The Fifth Horseman Is Fear
(1965)
|
Marty Mapes
|
Dense atmosphere and rich characters more than make up for a hook or a twist
Posted Jan 09, 2018
|
|
|
Fences
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Both Washington and Davis scale their performances somewhere between stage and screen, and in his role a director, Washington clearly keeps allegiance with the rapid-fire exchanges in Wilson's text.
Posted Dec 23, 2016
|
|
|
Passengers
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Passengers is stranded in a world full of cooked up plot points and, at key times, a lack of gravity.
Posted Dec 23, 2016
|
|
3.5/4
|
Lost in Paris
(2016)
|
Marty Mapes
|
It's not just slapstick, it's exquisite slapstick.
Posted Dec 20, 2016
|
|
3/4
|
The Flaw
(2011)
|
Marty Mapes
|
The Flaw is a level and clear explanation of what happened in 2008. And it doesn't once mention tulips.
Posted Dec 20, 2016
|
|
3/4
|
After the Storm
(2016)
|
Marty Mapes
|
It may not be the most interesting question Kore-eda has ever posed in a film. But it makes a nice addition to a lovely and gentle body of work about parents and children.
Posted Dec 20, 2016
|
|
3/4
|
Off the Rails
(2016)
|
Marty Mapes
|
[Off the Rails has] such a charismatic protagonist and such an interesting conundrum at its core.
Posted Dec 20, 2016
|
|
3/4
|
Bird People
(2014)
|
Marty Mapes
|
Did you know there's a sparrow sitting just outside your window? Probably not -- they're so common that they are practically invisible. That's what the movie Bird People is getting at, in its own charming and humorous way.
Posted Dec 20, 2016
|
|
|
Café Society
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Though hardly a knockout, Cafe Society qualifies as a showcase of sorts, less for Allen than for his production designer, Santo Loquasto, and his cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Jason Bourne
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
It would have been nice if the filmmakers had been able to make this Bourne revival better than the movies that spawned it.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Our Kind of Traitor
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Our Kind of Traitor reminded me of the kind of movie pleasures I'd lately been missing, namely characters who find themselves in situations they couldn't possibly have anticipated and which prove morally taxing.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Swiss Army Man
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Swiss Army Man plays like Samuel Beckett Lite, a wobbly, repetitive two-actor journey into the absurd.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
I wanted to laugh. And I often did, but Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping isn't uproariously funny and its cascading series of musical parodies certainly can't touch the winner and still champion mock-doc satire, This is Spinal Tap.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Lobster
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Lanthimos wrings emotion out of human interaction in ways that are both bizarre and funny.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
X-Men: Apocalypse
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
I can't say that I hated watching Apocalypse. It unreeled with the usual fury, but its playbook evolves over two-and-a-half hours without finding much that's inspired.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
A Bigger Splash
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Tilda Swinton plays rock star Marianne Lane in A Bigger Splash, a thriller posing as a vacation posing as a commentary on what happens when two men fix their attentions on the same woman.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Director Nicholas Stoller doesn't do much to keep the movie from looking like what it is, a sloppy second helping that, for all its attempts to capture a 2016 zeitgeist, is really just more of the same.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Meddler
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Sarandon gives a committed and sometimes touching comic performance as a woman whose good intentions are inseparable from her desire to involve herself in the lives of others.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Money Monster
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Money Monster flirts with thriller and satirical elements without providing enough of either, and despite the presence of appealing stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts, the movie short sells character development.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Miles Ahead
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Cheadle -- who co-wrote the script with Steven Baigelman -- may have been trying to be worthy of Davis, who at one point in the movie says that if you're going to do something, it's best to do it with attitude.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Elvis & Nixon
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
I don't know who decided to team Shannon and Spacey in a comedy called Elvis & Nixon, but whoever it was deserves credit for a masterstroke.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Boss
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Te movie's principal strategy (streaming profanity in inappropriate places) feels so familiar, it's a non-starter.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Everybody Wants Some!!
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
For the most part, Everybody Wants Some!! is a shambling, rambling look at young people who have yet to become interesting. Judging by the movie, they may never actually achieve that status.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
I Saw the Light
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The movie misses the unaffected magic of Williams' best songs.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Remember when comic book movies were fun? Well, you'll have to use your memory because there's not much fun to be found in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Eye in the Sky
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Taut and chastening, Eye in The Sky leaves you saddened and shaken.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Embrace of the Serpent
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
I suppose, then, that it's possible to characterize Embrace of the Serpent, which seems aimed at western audiences, as an instructive and necessary act of trespass.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
10 Cloverfield Lane
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Before it's done, 10 Cloverfield Lane takes an unexpected turn or two. So don't be fooled by a bit of rope-a-dope pacing; by the end, the movie delivers a strong punch.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Wave
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
As a good, old-fashioned hunk of big-screen disaster, you could do a lot worse than The Wave, say last year's far more expensive and less involving San Andreas.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Zootopia
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Directors Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush do a fine job of keeping Zootopia amusing for kids and equally enjoyable for the adults who accompany them to theaters.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Race
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Given all its volatile and exhilarating ingredients, it's disappointing that Race doesn't have greater impact.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Hail, Caesar!
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Hail Caesar! may not rank at the top of Coen's impressive list, but it should do nothing to sour anyone on their work. My advice: Treat the movie as a smorgasbord. Pick what you like; forget the rest.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Revenant
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The Revenant provides Iñarritu with an opportunity to present a view of the frontier as a place of nearly unrelieved brutality and looming death, all augmented by Lubezki's brilliant cinematography.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Lady in the Van
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
It may be more anecdotal than epic, but Lady in the Van should be welcomed for giving Smith an opportunity to add another memorable character to an already substantial portfolio.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
45 Years
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
To make this quiet drama work as well as it does requires actors who can operate in the subtlest of modes. For that, director Andrew Haigh has chosen well.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
The Finest Hours
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
The movie's ocean sequences are good enough to make The Finest Hours an acceptable -- if not great -- piece of January entertainment.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Ride Along 2
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
This second helping does little more than add a bit of Miami glitz to a formula that wasn't especially inspired to begin with.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Mustang
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
An appealing young cast gives the movie a sense of sustained and authentic life, even as Erguven explores the necessary defiance of young women who refuse to be shackled by the rules of a culture that demands submission.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Court
(2014)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
To borrow a phrase from a David Bowie song, Court is moviemaking at the speed of life, providing you still remember how life felt when moving at less than 100 miles an hour.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Demolition
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Although the movie deals with important issues surrounding the devastations of grief, it strains for metaphorical significance at nearly every turn, even as it tries to temper its seriousness with offbeat expressions of humor.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Moonlight
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Whether you see Moonlight as a perfect movie or not, it's difficult to imagine that you won't be moved by the way Jenkins interprets and reimagines Tarell Alvin McCraney's play.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Bleed for This
(2016)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
In fight-movie terms, I'd call it a draw.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
Touched With Fire
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Honest and affecting.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
|
A War
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Deeply troubling and appropriately ambiguous, A War is a fine and sobering movie.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
|
|
3.5/4
|
Colonia
(2015)
|
Marty Mapes
|
It works really well as an entertainment, but more importantly because it doesn't seem to disrespect the reality of Colonia Dignidad.
Posted Apr 05, 2016
|
|
|
Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents
(2015)
|
Marty Mapes
|
Music documentary offers exposure to The Residents, but it's mostly for fans
Posted Jan 03, 2016
|
|
|
Spotlight
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
A terrific film about true team work and the good journalists can do
Posted Jan 03, 2016
|
|
|
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Kudos to Lawrence for helping bring a satisfactory conclusion
Posted Jan 03, 2016
|
|
|
Creed
(2015)
|
Robert Denerstein
|
Ryan Coogler's sequel follows a "Rocky" road
Posted Jan 03, 2016
|
