Search Irreviews
-
Recent Reviews
- Good Kill – An artistic exploration of drone assassinations
- Citizenfour – a fascinating and important topic, but a disappointing documentary
- Interstellar – Probably the best film of the year, certainly the most enjoyable!
- Laggies – a delightful little film about late-blooming misfits
- Two Days, One Night – it’s (almost) exactly what you expect it to be
- Whiplash – a disgusting, stupidly manipulative piece of absurdity.
- Still Alice – big stars, big production, but still just a Hallmark movie of the week
- Wild – it’s surprisingly well-made and fun to watch
- Black Sea – diverting, but sadly predictable
- Birdman (Or the Expected Emptiness of Pretension)
- Mr. Turner – Planet of the Ape
- The Imitation Game – It’s an abomination
- A Brief Word on the 2014 Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts
- Kill The Messenger – The important and tragic story of Gary Webb, the mainstream media, and the CIA
- This is Where I Leave You – the latest in a long line of “family reunion” movies
- A review of summer cinema – it was pretty grim!
- The Trip to Italy – It never should have been made
- A Most Wanted Man – Superficially entertaining, but poorly-made and overrated
- Magic in the Moonlight – It’s pissing me off!
- The Purge: Anarchy – Surprisingly, it’s rather good
- I Origins – ambitious and entertaining
- Boyhood – a bit one dimensional, but its one dimension is lovely, impressive and fun to experience
- Obvious Child – cute, dignified and gutsy
- Snowpiercer – a fantastic, riveting science fiction action allegory
- Edge of Tomorrow – it’s fairly entertaining
- Begin Again – confronting the future of pop music head-on
- The Fault in Our Stars – not super-moving, but definitely enjoyable
- Hellion – a gritty tale of fucked up parents and children
- Night Moves – a cool, subtle portrayal of hippy-liberal activism turned violent
- Cold In July – an outstandingly fun and unusual film, and a paean for the 1980s
- Austenland – so horrible, I’m speechless
- Elena – 80 minutes of torture
- Lucky Them – Toni Collette takes center stage and lights up the screen!
- Belle – it means well, but God is it slow (and dull)
- Finding Vivian Maier – an okay documentary on a fascinating artist
- The German Doctor (Wakolda) – Diverting, but feels more than a little contrived
- Chef – it’s heart is in the right place
- Jodorowsky’s Dune – a bizarre and amazing documentary
- Hateship, Loveship – it goes down well
- Divergent – entertaining, but there’s a lot wrong with it
Category Archives: 2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – much worse than I feared it would be
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was, in the 1979 Alec Guinness BBC miniseries, translated to film as perfectly as anything I’ve ever seen. Compared to that masterpiece, this remake is a dumbed-down comic book. I’m not just being outrageous for effect here, I mean this … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – much worse than I feared it would be
Dirty Girl – A very cute indie film with a quirky style
I’m not sure what to make of Dirty Girl. It’s far from great, and I’m not sure I would watch it again (I might,) but enjoyed it way more than I expected to. It has a certain infectious, quirky style running … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Dirty Girl – A very cute indie film with a quirky style
Anonymous – Ignore the critics, it’s super fun!
Ever since reading, about ten years ago, the case for Edward De Vere as the true identity of Shakespeare, I have had no trouble believing that this privileged, well-traveled, and highly educated nobleman with time on his hands might have produced the … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Anonymous – Ignore the critics, it’s super fun!
New Years Eve – minimally entertaining
This film is an inoffensive potpourri of good-looking people minimally acting out various minimally entertaining stories. There’s a place for that.
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on New Years Eve – minimally entertaining
Submarine – a quirky and lovely little throwback to the Indie Renaissance
My wife and I really liked Submarine a lot. It’s a throwback to the glorious Indie Renaissance of the 90’s. The writing is crisp, funny and unusual, and it features marvelously written narration, delivered well by the main character. The … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Submarine – a quirky and lovely little throwback to the Indie Renaissance
Apollo 18 – the found footage gimmick, done tolerably well
Apollo 18 may wish it was part of the impressive low-tech sci-fi movement arising in films (Sunshine, Monsters, District 9, Another Earth,) but it is not. It’s really just a Blair Witch thing set in space, except that it is … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Apollo 18 – the found footage gimmick, done tolerably well
Sarah’s Key – a very good film in a usually disappointing genera
I really liked Sarah’s Key, and it’s the kind of movie that I usually don’t like. They somehow managed to do so many things right that are usually botched in films like this. The script is actually pretty good, and … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Sarah’s Key – a very good film in a usually disappointing genera
Higher Ground – lovely and understated
I’m not sure how many people realize it, but Vera Farmiga is a cinematic treasure. I would say everything she touches turns to gold, the counter-example of Safe House notwithstanding (film making incompetence on that scale would confound anyone!) She has … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Higher Ground – lovely and understated
Melancholia – Lars von Trier strikes again
Melancholia is stupendously pretentious crap that also happens to be frightfully boring. I found it far from beautiful or interesting or thought-provoking. As a metaphor for depression it strikes me as absurdly heavy-handed (“Depression: you think you’ve beaten it, and then WHAMO!”) … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Melancholia – Lars von Trier strikes again
Like Crazy – No more Sundance winners for us
Like Crazy has finished off Sundance for my wife and I. This film is really just boring junk, if we’re calling a spade a spade. There’s no dialog, so it’s damn near impossible to form an emotional bond with either … Continue reading
Posted in 2011
Comments Off on Like Crazy – No more Sundance winners for us
Irreviews 