Film Reviews X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014): Or, Confessions of an X-Men Ex-Fan I'm not going to try to talk anybody out of liking "Days of Future Past." I can see why it's getting such great reviews. But in the whole film, I found only one sequence particularly memorable...
Film Reviews The Return (2003): Why Moviegoers Everywhere Must Learn to Say "Zvyagintsev" If you hear film buffs shouting "Zvyagintsev!" in the coming months, do not say "Gesundheit." The proper response is this: "When do I get to see Leviathan?"
Film Reviews Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999): Looking Back 15 Years I know, I know. Take a deep breath. Let go of your anger, young Jedi.
Film Reviews Saving Mr. Banks (2013) ... or Squandering Mr. Hanks If you want to hang on to that warm "Mary Poppins" feeling, you may just want to stop reading — because "happiness" is about the opposite of how I felt when I finally sat down to watch "Saving Mr. Banks."
Film Reviews Only Lovers Left Alive (2014) — Forget Twilight: These Are My Favorite Vampires We're all vampires. That is to say, we all have particular kinds of "blood" that we seek — sources of sustenance and inspiration that keep our eyes open and our hearts beating in a dark and punishing world. For me, it's a particular kind of
Film Reviews Under the Skin (2014) Feel free to eavesdrop as I argue with myself upon exiting the theater after seeing Jonathan Glazer's troubling new sci-fi horror film Under the Skin...
Film Reviews Noah (2014): Part Two of a Two-Part Commentary In which two very different moviegoers wrestle with Noah, and with some of the questions that the movie asks.
Film Reviews Noah (2014): Part One of A Two-Part Commentary Darren Aronofsky made an epic Old Testament movie in which he wrestled with some of humankind's most difficult questions. And Christians responded with admirable attention, grace, intelligence, and humility. Right? No? That didn't happen?
Film Reviews The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Every scene was like a spectacular frosted pastry with a sharp object baked into the middle of it.
Film Reviews Girl Rising (2014) “I’m told my mother burst into tears when she learned my sex. She set me aside in the dirt.” Amina was born in Afghanistan, but no one made a record of her birth date. Only boys are given that kind of attention. At 11 years old, she was “sold”
Film Reviews The Passion of the Christ: Revisited Would I now disagree with the review I wrote ten years ago? Would I flinch to read what I wrote back then?
Film Reviews The Great Beauty (2013) I've just seen "The Great Beauty" and I'm still a little bit drunk on its imagery. It's a feast for those with big appetites for beauty on the big screen. But alas, the meal is soured by a bitter syrup.
Film Reviews The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2014): Or, Now You Can Watch the Zany Adventure Movie That America Missed Looking for an escape? Searching for an exciting, hilarious, fun adventure film for the whole family? I highly recommend Luc Besson's The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec. Globe-trotting adventure, over-the-top comedy, extravagant costumes, Egyptian tomb-raiding, and a rampaging pterodactyl... this movie has all of that and more. And
Film Reviews The LEGO Movie (2014) The LEGO Movie is, at once, a movie with more laughs-per-minute than any recent comedy I can remember; the greatest LEGO invention of all time; and a thrilling summons to unleash our own creativity — not only with our LEGOs, but with our lives.
Film Reviews Her (2013): a guest review Guest reviewer Lauren Wilford on Spike Jonze's new film: "Depending on your perspective, Her has either an amazing elevator pitch or an awful one: 'A guy falls in love with his iPhone.'"
Film Reviews The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): a commentary "What? You liked The Wolf of Wall Street? How could you possibly recommend such a profane movie that revels in so much evil?" Written as a response to messages like that one, this post was originally titled "Respect The Wolf of Wall Street (The Movie, Not the Man)"
Film Reviews Her (2013): a fictional review This review of Spike Jonze's film "Her" is Part Four of the new fiction series I call "All Thumbs Video."
Film Reviews Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) His name is Salieri, and in Milos Forman’s beloved film "Amadeus," he is played by F. Murray Abraham. Why am I talking about "Amadeus" when this is supposed to be a review of "Inside Llewyn Davis"? Stay with me. It’s important.
Film Reviews 12 Years a Slave (2013) It's a film I would encourage every American over the age of 16 (in general) to see. It's important. It's necessary. But it is also, in my opinion, limited and even undermined by certain aspects of McQueen's artistry.
Film Reviews The Counselor (2013) This is not more of the trendy Tarantino revelry in nastiness and violence. This is a true horror film. Like David Fincher's "Se7en," one of this movie's closest spiritual cousins, "The Counselor" ultimately delivers a diagnosis that tells the awful truth. And the Counselor himself doesn't want to k
Film Reviews Gravity (2013) Critics will go on and on comparing "Gravity" to groundbreaking works of art like "2001: A Space Odyssey," but... really?
Film Reviews Constantine (2005): Remembering a Movie I'd Rather Forget My experience with the DC Comics character Constantine was unpleasant, at best. Some of you who were already reading my reviews back in 2005 may remember it...
Film Reviews The Late Gatsby: First Impressions Luhrmann's films are the equivalent of opera ("popera"?), with the soaring kaleidoscopic imagery and light taking the place of soaring voices. The seventeen-layer cakeness of The Great Gatsby has a particular magic.
Film Reviews Secondhand Lions (2003): A conversation with Duvall, Caine, Osment, and McCanlies A film-review assignment can change your life. In fact, ten years ago this month, a film-review assignment changed my life. In August 2003, I took my first step into a larger world — the wild, wild world of film junkets.
Film Reviews This is Martin Bonner (2013): (Previously: "Biggest Surprise of This Moviegoer's Year So Far) I've reworked my top 10 of 2013 so far, and "This is Martin Bonner" is currently sitting at #1. This isn't just a movie that treats faith with profound sensitivity. It's a film that is beautifully crafted. And it features my favorite performance of the year so far.
