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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: 2012
A Late Quartet – a solidly good and interesting little film
A Late Quartet really surprised us, because so many critics and people we know had given it decidedly mixed reviews. It may not be a great film, but it was a really good, balanced film with no major flaws. The … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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No – A great topic, but a really badly made film
No is a frustrating movie. I wanted to like it, because it’s a very interesting story, one that is directly connected to the fascinating geopolitical history of how the United States used to run South America, and no longer does. … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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End of Watch – Surprisingly, it’s very good!
My expectations for End of Watch were pretty low – basically, I like Jake Gyllenhaal, so I watched it. But this film is a passed-over gem of sorts. It is very well-made, interesting, and artistically it succeeds way more than I … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Celeste & Jesse Forever – Well-intentioned, but it falls flat
Rashida Jones is adorable, and I think it’s fabulous that she (like Brit Marling and Zoe Kazan) has faced the dearth of quality female roles head-on by sitting down and writing her own movie to star in. Celeste & Jesse … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Liberal Arts – an amusing film about academia
Liberal Arts is perhaps a bit uneven, but it’s an entertaining and somewhat original-feeling film, and its merits definitely outweigh its flaws. On the plus side, it’s a very amusing and sometimes heartfelt portrayal of academia and academic personalities. Its portrait … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Moonrise Kingdom – an adorable, if strange, film about outcasts
My wife and I loved Moonrise Kingdom. It exceeded all expectations (in part because its trailer was horrible.) It’s a charming, clever, and heartwarming film about two despised and outcast children who find each other and cling together in love. Although its … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Magic Mike – interesting, but leaves you a little cold
Magic Mike is a good film, worth seeing. But it’s nothing I would ever need to see again. It captures the world of male strippers in an interesting and entertaining way. The story, while certainly not at all deep, holds … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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The Life of Pi – Beautiful, profound, and unpretentious – the best film of 2012
The Life of Pi is not the type of film I usually go ape shit over, but I recognize exceptional quality and substance when I see it. There were a lot of good films this year in genres I tend to … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Beasts of the Southern Wild – a colossal bore
When a movie tells its story exclusively from the point of view of a six year old, it has to be somewhat limited because the child doesn’t understand anything it’s seeing, and it can’t articulate anything it’s feeling. Thus is … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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Promised Land – one of the better films of the year
The mainstream critics panned Promised Land? Why?! It’s a really good film, with a fabulous cast, excellent writing, nicely directed by Gus Van Sant, and a really timely, important and interesting story. There’s really almost nothing to dislike about this … Continue reading
Posted in 2012
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