Movie Reviews
Instead of surrealist spinnings along the lines of Luis Buñuel’s Belle du Jour, spend the four seasons in a suite at the Four Seasons with a high-school harlot in Francois Ozon’s Young & Beautiful. The …
“Based on a true story” is an overused and much-abused claim, now used to gussy up everything from supernatural thrillers to backstage comedies. Belle at least has the added distinction of being based on a …
The last time mainstream audiences were locked in a one-character/fixed-setting experiment along this line, it was called Buried. Better to ride shotgun with Tom Hardy in high-octane mode in Locke than be trapped in a …
Only Lovers Left Alive is less a movie than an extended, deadpan, highly stylized rant from director Jim Jarmusch. Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a vampire. Adam listens to vinyl, collects vintage electric guitars, and makes …
Dom Hemingway opens with an extended (snicker) shot of a bare-chested and beefy Jude Law delivering an equally extended (snicker) panegyric on his penis. An encomium for his erection. A tribute to his tallywacker. On …
Pit anywhere from 5 to 15 thugs against one lone tough and instead of a dogpile, the bad guys line up like they’re in a bakery waiting for their numbers to be called. (Don’t any …
Prior to 1904 and the National Child Labor Committee that was formed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, there was no such thing as a period of adolescence. One was either a kid or …
It’s possible to accuse Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel of verging into self-parody. But I think Anderson is too self-conscious for that. And if you squint just so, you may be able to see …
Godfrey Reggio uses precisely 74 shots to tell his story. With only four behind me and 70 left to go, the film’s thesis was already stated and its conclusion long foregone. Do I grab a …
Near the end of Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago — Lydia Smith’s finely observed documentary about travelers along Spain’s 500-mile pilgrim trail, the Camino de Santiago — one of the pilgrims makes a …
Just in time for your post-Valentine’s low, In Secret serves up a murky bowl of curdled desire, soured by a generous dollop of good old-fashioned guilt. No, wait — come back! It’s good, honest! It’s …
Forty-five years after the Japanese practice of nurses identifying newborns by names written in Magic Marker on the soles of their feet was thought to have ceased, it took one thoughtless orderly to forever alter …
The San Diego Jewish Film Festival ushers in its 24th year with a showcase of 60 shorts, documentaries, and features chosen from across the globe. With this year’s film festival comes two fresh faces: publicist …
Another Oscar season, another opportunity to wonder aloud why it is that, in this age of supposedly dwindling attention spans, there has not been an explosion of interest in the short-film form. Tired of formulaic …
Trying to capitalize on the latest media craze of gay men as fashion accessories, a trio of prom queen probables (Sasha Pieterse, Xosha Roquemore, and Andrea Bowen) battle over friendship rights to their recently outed …
Not unlike the Japanese tourist who kicks off Paolo Sorrentino’s latest cinematic feast by collapsing under the scenic force of his search for the great beauty of Rome, I find myself more than a bit …