The Place Beyond the Pines
A new Ryan Gosling vehicle that isn’t a fastback 2008 Bullitt Mustang. So is it the sequel to Blue Valentine, given this is the same director? Or is it Drive, given he’s a badass on a motorbike trying to muscle
The Place Beyond the Pines
A new Ryan Gosling vehicle that isn’t a fastback 2008 Bullitt Mustang. So is it the sequel to Blue Valentine, given this is the same director? Or is it Drive, given he’s a badass on a motorbike trying to muscle
Oblivion
If you don’t mind your futuristic production design looking like an off the plan real estate brochure, Oblivion is a watchable post-catastrophic sci-fi. Humanity appears to have moved out of home, Tom Cruise and his assigned companion (Andrea Riseborough) are ensconced in
Oblivion
If you don’t mind your futuristic production design looking like an off the plan real estate brochure, Oblivion is a watchable post-catastrophic sci-fi. Humanity appears to have moved out of home, Tom Cruise and his assigned companion (Andrea Riseborough) are ensconced in
Zero Dark Thirty
How should Hollywood approach real world stories about black ops, geopolitical espionage and covert vested interests, around which whirl clouds of doubt and conspiracy? According to Zero Dark Thirty, you tell something close to the official story and let it
Zero Dark Thirty
How should Hollywood approach real world stories about black ops, geopolitical espionage and covert vested interests, around which whirl clouds of doubt and conspiracy? According to Zero Dark Thirty, you tell something close to the official story and let it
Chronicle
This found-footage mashup of X-men and Akira is another meeting of low production values and teen movie cliches, the kind where the low budget is a means to break into the mainstream rather than break out. Its premise of alien-artifact-sourced
Chronicle
This found-footage mashup of X-men and Akira is another meeting of low production values and teen movie cliches, the kind where the low budget is a means to break into the mainstream rather than break out. Its premise of alien-artifact-sourced
Les Miserables
With every line sung rather than spoken and much of it internal monologue rather than dialogue, Les Miserables and musicals like it redraw the rules of what is cinematically permissible. Melodrama flourishes while realism diminishes in value almost entirely. In
Les Miserables
With every line sung rather than spoken and much of it internal monologue rather than dialogue, Les Miserables and musicals like it redraw the rules of what is cinematically permissible. Melodrama flourishes while realism diminishes in value almost entirely. In
Killing Them Softly
Director Andrew Dominick does a creditable job treading some very familiar territory, as weary hit man Brad Pitt tidies up the aftermath of a poker robbery. The right people die and the ledger is balanced. Pitt’s reaper manages to intrigue with
Killing Them Softly
Director Andrew Dominick does a creditable job treading some very familiar territory, as weary hit man Brad Pitt tidies up the aftermath of a poker robbery. The right people die and the ledger is balanced. Pitt’s reaper manages to intrigue with
Grey Gardens (2009)
Thankfully not the grotesque vanity project one might have feared, this unflinching yet respectful biopic offers some worthwhile context and understanding of the Beales phenomenon, even if Barrymore and Lange’s evocation of the two Edies can never hope to entirely
Grey Gardens (2009)
Thankfully not the grotesque vanity project one might have feared, this unflinching yet respectful biopic offers some worthwhile context and understanding of the Beales phenomenon, even if Barrymore and Lange’s evocation of the two Edies can never hope to entirely
Side Effects
Side Effects uses its mystery thriller plot to steer us through a what-if about the potholes and legal pitfalls of the socio-psycho-pharmaceutical complex. This is done in a similar fashion to Soderbergh’s earlier Contagion, which masqueraded as a star strewn
Side Effects
Side Effects uses its mystery thriller plot to steer us through a what-if about the potholes and legal pitfalls of the socio-psycho-pharmaceutical complex. This is done in a similar fashion to Soderbergh’s earlier Contagion, which masqueraded as a star strewn
Cloud Atlas
This three hour omnibus interweaves six stories, some of which we may have been told before as The Island or Phantom of the Opera or One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s not clear whether the stories are linked by
Cloud Atlas
This three hour omnibus interweaves six stories, some of which we may have been told before as The Island or Phantom of the Opera or One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s not clear whether the stories are linked by
Man Of Steel
This latest reboot posits a moral conflict over Superman’s earthly versus Kryptonian loyalties, yet it manages to extract little from them but a lot of brawling, and does nothing new with the character. The invading Krypto-fascists seem like a broad church.
Man Of Steel
This latest reboot posits a moral conflict over Superman’s earthly versus Kryptonian loyalties, yet it manages to extract little from them but a lot of brawling, and does nothing new with the character. The invading Krypto-fascists seem like a broad church.
On The Road
Kerouac’s tale of his friendship with Neil Cassady (nee Dean Moriarty) plays like a journey of the apostles, as a lost tribe of disaffected youths pursue this charismatic narcissist back and forth across America. Rarely does a film let you
On The Road
Kerouac’s tale of his friendship with Neil Cassady (nee Dean Moriarty) plays like a journey of the apostles, as a lost tribe of disaffected youths pursue this charismatic narcissist back and forth across America. Rarely does a film let you
The Master
This is a masterfully crafted example of whatever it is. There’s some controversy regarding whether it’s really just a litigation-proofed L. Ron Hubbard:The Early Years, but if it’s not, then what is it? At face value, there isn’t nearly enough
The Master
This is a masterfully crafted example of whatever it is. There’s some controversy regarding whether it’s really just a litigation-proofed L. Ron Hubbard:The Early Years, but if it’s not, then what is it? At face value, there isn’t nearly enough
Cosmopolis
A one percent It boy accompanied by intermittent aides and associates takes a stretch limo across Manhattan as the wave of financial speculation he’s been riding begins to break. Cosmopolis is a road movie in a traffic jam. Most of
Cosmopolis
A one percent It boy accompanied by intermittent aides and associates takes a stretch limo across Manhattan as the wave of financial speculation he’s been riding begins to break. Cosmopolis is a road movie in a traffic jam. Most of
Argo
A useful writer’s lesson in how suspense is created. If you separate the true story from the invented fictional overlays you’ll find in one hand a finely crafted collection of reversals, all is lost moments, narrow escapes and races against
Argo
A useful writer’s lesson in how suspense is created. If you separate the true story from the invented fictional overlays you’ll find in one hand a finely crafted collection of reversals, all is lost moments, narrow escapes and races against
Lore
Cate Shortland reprises the themes of her previous feature Somersault with another tale about another girl who came down in the last shower, a hard rain that dumps her unarmed into a world corrupted. In Somersault, Abbie Cornish’s performance as
Lore
Cate Shortland reprises the themes of her previous feature Somersault with another tale about another girl who came down in the last shower, a hard rain that dumps her unarmed into a world corrupted. In Somersault, Abbie Cornish’s performance as
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Fifty Shades of Grey meets The Wrestler – or is it King Kong? A 48 year old Marlon Brando roams Paris like a rogue silverback. Apparently mourning the recent and mysterious suicide of his wife, he’s roughing up everyone and
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Fifty Shades of Grey meets The Wrestler – or is it King Kong? A 48 year old Marlon Brando roams Paris like a rogue silverback. Apparently mourning the recent and mysterious suicide of his wife, he’s roughing up everyone and
Lockout
This could have been a lot better. The trailer makes it look pretty funny, and it is, but something went wrong from script to screen. Most obvious among its oopses are the hamfisted digital effects. Highly ambitious action set pieces
Lockout
This could have been a lot better. The trailer makes it look pretty funny, and it is, but something went wrong from script to screen. Most obvious among its oopses are the hamfisted digital effects. Highly ambitious action set pieces
The Hobbit
An unmotivated hero throws in all his chips to join a troupe of homeless dwarves on a quest to reclaim their stolen inheritance. It’s an odd choice of action for the hero as the same dwarves have only just raided
The Hobbit
An unmotivated hero throws in all his chips to join a troupe of homeless dwarves on a quest to reclaim their stolen inheritance. It’s an odd choice of action for the hero as the same dwarves have only just raided
Life of Pi
The future of 3D cinema depends upon its exploration as an artform unique to itself – something closer to theatre or sculpture than to traditional cinema. Otherwise it seems to do little but offer novelty and a problematic highlighting of
Life of Pi
The future of 3D cinema depends upon its exploration as an artform unique to itself – something closer to theatre or sculpture than to traditional cinema. Otherwise it seems to do little but offer novelty and a problematic highlighting of
Holy Motors
This starts out like you’re watching a Tropfest DVD, a sequence of short films. It ends up in much the same place. In this case the signature item that thinly binds the whole together is nothing more than actor Denis
Holy Motors
This starts out like you’re watching a Tropfest DVD, a sequence of short films. It ends up in much the same place. In this case the signature item that thinly binds the whole together is nothing more than actor Denis