East Bay Express

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating Title/Year Author
Fast Color (2018) Kelly Vance Is Fast Color a "corrective" to the myriad of instant-legend superheroes on the market? Not exactly. But now that they mention it, it could be an enjoyable alternative. EDIT
Posted Apr 17, 2019
Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse (2017) Kelly Vance Filled with disturbing, half-glimpsed imagery and vaguely somnambulent characters, Albrun's life has all the contours of a terrifying nightmare. EDIT
Posted Apr 17, 2019
High Life (2018) Kelly Vance All we know is that before it ends we're in the same lonely trance as the characters. In that respect, it works. But we might not want to see it again. EDIT
Posted Apr 10, 2019
Peterloo (2018) Kelly Vance In some scenes it's as if we're watching a Ken Loach historical - and we say that with the greatest respect to two of Britain's finest filmmakers. EDIT
Posted Apr 10, 2019
Diane (2018) Kelly Vance [Mary Kay Place's] empathy rings true, and so does Diane. EDIT
Posted Mar 29, 2019
The Brink (2019) Kelly Vance Take Steve Bannon as Alison Klayman finds him, and then put the matter to a vote at every opportunity. Unlike the man himself, that vote is important. EDIT
Posted Mar 29, 2019
Hotel Mumbai (2018) Kelly Vance Worth a look for action enthusiasts. EDIT
Posted Mar 28, 2019
Us (2019) Kelly Vance Drop whatever you're doing and run to see Us. You might recognize someone you already know. EDIT
Posted Mar 22, 2019
Gloria Bell (2018) Kelly Vance Hail Gloria! And hail Gloria Bell. EDIT
Posted Mar 13, 2019
Ash Is Purest White (2018) Kelly Vance Ash Is Purest White, recommended for committed [director Jia Zhangke] admirers only, is a cold tonic to be taken in sips. EDIT
Posted Mar 13, 2019
Woman at War (2018) Kelly Vance The absurdist touch of [director Benedikt] Erlingsson's (Of Horses and Men) screenplay - co-written with Ólafur Egilsson - suits the topic, but it's Halla we believe in. EDIT
Posted Mar 7, 2019
Mapplethorpe (2018) Kelly Vance In actor Smith's nicely paced and nuanced performance, Mapplethorpe is a selfish rebel redeemed, just barely, by his aesthetics. EDIT
Posted Mar 7, 2019
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018) Kelly Vance Endlessly referential, with nonstop spy-movie action and refresher-course Euro-culture intentions, Krstic's artsy caper pic is clearly a highbrow labor of love. EDIT
Posted Feb 27, 2019
Greta (2018) Kelly Vance We know this story by heart before the first image flashes on screen, and yet it embraces us in a combination of morbid desire and the terror of childhood ghost stories. EDIT
Posted Feb 27, 2019
Never Look Away (2018) Kelly Vance Despite its scenario hiccups, Never Look Away is strongest when it paints Kurt's life as a whirlwind of conflicting lifestyles and philosophies, reconciled at last in the artist's dreamy, melancholy canvases. EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2019
Everybody Knows (2018) Kelly Vance Not exactly one of Farhadi's finest, but easily one of his most accessible. EDIT
Posted Feb 20, 2019
What Men Want (2019) Kelly Vance Not to put too fine a point on it, but What Men Want, with its deft combo of Henson, social satire, sexual politics, and just plain sex, is the first 2019 release that actually means something. EDIT
Posted Feb 7, 2019
2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action (2019) Kelly Vance Skin is highly recommended, as is the "Live Action" shorts package in general. EDIT
Posted Feb 7, 2019
2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation (2019) Kelly Vance The most intriguing is Trevor Jimenez's Weekends. EDIT
Posted Feb 7, 2019
Arctic (2018) Kelly Vance Arctic, a superior example of its challenging brand, adds to its impact by subtracting every non-essential ingredient. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2019
Cold Pursuit (2019) Kelly Vance A cold possum sandwich of an action pic. EDIT
Posted Feb 6, 2019
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) Kelly Vance The thing that sets They Shall Not Grow Old apart, that makes it one of the grandest, most instantly accessible of all war films, is Jackson's use of modern technology to help bridge the gap between then and now. EDIT
Posted Jan 30, 2019
The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) Kelly Vance The Kid Who Would Be King is an amiable young person's fantasy that adults will probably relate to more than kids, Brexit analogies and all. EDIT
Posted Jan 23, 2019
Cold War (2018) Kelly Vance [Director Pawel] Pawlikowski has the knack of making personal (and political) heartbreak seem, initially, like a joyous European fling. EDIT
Posted Jan 16, 2019
Stan & Ollie (2018) Kelly Vance But it's Coogan and Reilly who take the pratfalls with a smile and lift the proceedings to the heights of sentimental warmth. EDIT
Posted Jan 16, 2019
Buffalo Boys (2018) Kelly Vance Buffalo Boys is not without its clumsiness.... But the talent behind it is obvious, from its Indonesian and Singaporean producers down to the character players fighting for women's rights while riding water buffaloes and firing shotguns. EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2019
Escape Room (2019) Kelly Vance You don't necessarily have to choose between Roma and Mary Poppins Returns this weekend. You could always let down your guard, go to Escape Room, and scream your fool head off. EDIT
Posted Jan 4, 2019
Capernaum (2018) Kelly Vance Capernaum makes the 2018 critics' favorite Shoplifters look like an afternoon at Disneyland. EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2018
On the Basis of Sex (2018) Azucena Rasilla Jones's performance is a revelation. EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2018
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Kelly Vance As always, Jenkins aims for the timeless. If Beale Street Could Talk is his latest breathtaking miracle. EDIT
Posted Dec 26, 2018
Vice (2018) Kelly Vance Vice just lies there dead as a hooked Wyoming trout anyway. EDIT
Posted Dec 19, 2018
Ben Is Back (2018) Kelly Vance Just in time for the holidays, a social problem movie about the opioid epidemic. With Julia Roberts as a worried mother. With a happy ending. Oh, joy to the world. EDIT
Posted Dec 12, 2018
Roma (2018) Kelly Vance In its calm compassion, it's the antithesis of cynicism. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2018
The Favourite (2018) Azucena Rasilla Hats off and huzzah to the three main actors. EDIT
Posted Nov 30, 2018
Manbiki kazoku (2018) Kelly Vance Another Kore-eda tale of hard-pressed individuals struggling to live "normal" lives in spite of it all. Get out your handkerchiefs. EDIT
Posted Nov 28, 2018
Green Book (2018) Kelly Vance In their predictable way, Tony Lip and Dr. Shirley give us hope for the future. EDIT
Posted Nov 28, 2018
Burning (2018) Kelly Vance Burning is a stylish, unsettling reminder that love can be a gateway to emotions more unpredictable than mere carnal desire. EDIT
Posted Nov 14, 2018
A Private War (2018) Kelly Vance A Private War is recommended. EDIT
Posted Nov 9, 2018
Suspiria (2018) Kelly Vance Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria is a genuine mindbender, a psychological melodrama in every sense of the term, a many-chambered nautilus of shocks and shudders that takes us from the sublime to the horrific and back again with each new scene. EDIT
Posted Nov 8, 2018
The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018) Kelly Vance The Great Buster: A Celebration is a scintillating profile of one of the true geniuses of film. EDIT
Posted Nov 7, 2018
Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable (2018) Kelly Vance [Director Sasha] Freyer's fast-paced, antsy profile of a man whom curator Szarkowski called "the central photographer of his generation" is here for us to dash through, admiringly. EDIT
Posted Oct 31, 2018
The Price of Everything (2018) Kelly Vance See it, then get to know your local artists while you can still afford to talk to them. EDIT
Posted Oct 31, 2018
Wildlife (2018) Kelly Vance We finally decide that Dano and his actorly directorial impulses show quite a bit of promise, but that we can't wait to leave this particular family to its fate. EDIT
Posted Oct 24, 2018
The Happy Prince (2018) Kelly Vance Everett is deliriously good as the poet, floating on a cloud of gorgeous cinematography by John Conroy and Gabriel Yared's floridly romantic music. EDIT
Posted Oct 19, 2018
The Oath (2018) Kelly Vance The Oath is a black comedy so dire it comes as a relief when the characters try to murder each other. EDIT
Posted Oct 17, 2018
First Man (2018) Kelly Vance First Man realistically humanizes a genre notorious for fantasy. What a welcome change of pace. EDIT
Posted Oct 12, 2018
Free Solo (2018) Kelly Vance Free Solo is an excellent follow-up to the remarkable Meru, and a nail-biting cinematic experience in its own right. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2018
Colette (2018) Kelly Vance The pulpy, gossipy, transgressive tale of Colette deserves a nutty filmmaker on the order of Ken Russell, but we get something mousier and less threatening, more or less on the order of The Danish Girl. EDIT
Posted Oct 3, 2018
A Star Is Born (2018) Kelly Vance Just TV-commercial pathos and huggy redemption. EDIT
Posted Oct 3, 2018
Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018) Kelly Vance Fahrenheit 11/9 is a desperate, heartfelt rallying cry from someone who cares deeply. If it resonates with us, we have to prove it. EDIT
Posted Sep 26, 2018