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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: 2013
Now You See Me – semi-idiotic summer fun
Now You See Me starts out okay, for maybe the first third. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson are fun to watch in their flashy roles. Mark Ruffalo is always a welcome quantity in any film. The first robbery is fun, and Morgan Freeman’s … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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The East – a very enjoyable political thriller from Hollywood’s rising star
I am a huge Brit Marling fan, both of her writing and her acting. Both of her previous films were remarkable in their own way. Another Earth was a lovely, haunting little film about regrets and the limitations that get imposed on our … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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The Kings of Summer – a cute idea that goes nowhere
This is a film about teenage boys, their hatred of their parents, and the drama of the girl that comes between them. It feels clunky and derivative, and made almost no impression on me. I wouldn’t even bother Netflixing it.
Posted in 2013
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Shadow Dancer – a simple but smart political thriller
I really liked Shadow Dancer. It’s not great, and it suffers from too little dialog and too many “meaningful facial expressions,” but nevertheless it’s a good story, well-told, with solid performances across the board. Not much to say on this … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Something really fascinating is going on with this documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks. Julian Assange has vehemently denounced it. His small cult fandom is outraged by it. Its creator, Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, feels it is very fair, and indeed … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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Before Midnight – An open letter to Richard Linklater
Dear Richard Linklater, My wife and I are giving you and your co-writers permission to not wait another nine years to make the next movie, and suggesting that instead you make one in two years, at which time you should … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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Love Is All You Need (Den skaldede frisør) – Nothing special, but inoffensive and enjoyable
Love Is All you Need is a typical “wedding movie” – beautiful location, crazy families, emotional drama, pre-wedding jitters, and the cold, handsome guy who needs to loosen up and find love. But this Danish film feels different than its … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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Francis Ha – cringingly and insultingly horrible
Critics are in ecstasy over this film, and New Yorkers are standing in long lines at IFC to see it (and IFC has it playing every hour, all day long.) It is so terrible my wife and I agreed we should have walked … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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Mud / The Great Gatsby – A joint review
Well, my wife and I sucked it up and went to The Great Gatsby, against our better judgement and despite that film’s horrifying preview. We had to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I did not come away … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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Pain and Gain – crazy bodybuilders, running wild
Pain and Gain is a true story about three nut-jobs who abducted a rich scumbag, legally robbed him of every asset he had, left him alive but homeless and penniless, and somehow got away with it for a good long … Continue reading
Posted in 2013
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