Film Reviews
Big Miracle: Fish Story
Three whales trapped in ice; moviegoers trapped in sentimentality.KRISTIAN LIN
Last fall we saw the release of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, a terrific thriller that took in a single event (a global pandemic) from the points of view of a wide array of characters affected by it. The cuddlier and well-in...
Dangerous Method: Jungian Slip
Psychological titans clash in this drama. Spanking ensues.KRISTIAN LIN
More than 50 years after his death, Carl Jung seems to have reasserted himself in the zeitgeist, with the recent publication of his famously bizarre The Red Book in German, a display of its illustrated pages in New York, and no...
Albert Nobbs: Man Drag
This gender-bender recedes into the background.KRISTIAN LIN
Glenn Close has been trying to get Albert Nobbs made into a film since 1982. Before she delivered any of the screen performances that made her famous, she acted in a stage adaptation of a short story by the Irish writer George ...
The Artist: Quiet on the Set
This French silent film is unique, crowd-pleasing, and powerful.KRISTIAN LIN
After premiering at last summer’s Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and a Best Actor prize, The Artist has played to rapturous reception at festivals (including the Lone Star International Film Festival) and art houses, pi...
Haywire: Kane Mutiny
Steven Soderbergh delivers action in this thriller.KRISTIAN LIN
I’m not sure why this film is called Haywire. The title implies a berserk quality, when in fact this movie is a tightly controlled and emotionally subdued piece of work. This is the closest thing to a pure action-thriller tha...
Iron Lady: Tory Details
Margaret Thatcher is lost in this hazy political biography.KRISTIAN LIN
More than 20 years after she left office as Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher now enjoys a much higher reputation in America than in the country over which she ruled. This is curious, though not so surprising. ...
Oh, the Carnage!
Great actors rant and rave in this circular chamber drama.KRISTIAN LIN
An ongoing motif in Roman Polanski’s career has been characters trapped in enclosed spaces. The director seems to love watching people unravel in apartments, sailboats, or secluded houses, where they cannot run from their neu...
Sex, Shame, and Tears
Michael Fassbender makes this addiction drama potent stuff.KRISTIAN LIN
Other actors were onscreen a lot in 2011 — Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rutger Hauer (five movies, look it up!) — but none of them had as fruitful a year as Michael Fassbender. Just three years ago, the hands...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: When You’re Smiley…
…the whole world lies to you in this hallowed British spy thriller.KRISTIAN LIN
I’ve heard complaints about Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from those who haven’t read the John le Carré novel on which it’s based or seen the celebrated 1979 BBC TV miniseries adaptation of it. Newcomers find the current fil...
Top 10 Movies of 2011
Foreigners trump Americans at the theaters this year.KRISTIAN LIN
Do better next year, Hollywood. That’s how I feel as I look back on the movies of 2011. American films dominated my Top 10 lists the last two years, but this year both Hollywood and the indies consistently fell short, their b...