Happy Returns
At first, it was all good for 45 Years. After winning the Silver Bear (runner-up) prize at the prestigious Berlinale last year, this British...
Two by Spielberg
Only a filmmaker of Steven Spielberg’s stature could convince two rival Hollywood studios to put out two films by him in the same week,...
Salmon Fishing: Running Dry
Why is this movie called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen? Like the satirical Paul Torday novel that it’s based on, the film constantly refers...
Classical Gore
I’m always puzzled when my fellow film critics decry the notion of “style over substance” in movies.
Style trumps everything. Style is what distinguishes...
Webb of Truths
Through the first half of Kill the Messenger, I found myself thinking that this journalism drama would have blown me away if I’d seen...
Carter’s Malaise
I have a hard time looking at Meg Ryan right now. There are a few shots in her latest film, In the Land of...
The Bond Beginning
There hasn’t been a good new James Bond picture in two decades.
That wasn’t necessarily Pierce Brosnan’s fault, but his presence was a symbol...
Household Saint
Really, St. Vincent isn’t anything new. This working-class dramedy is a modestly budgeted independent film, but it’s the same sort of sentimental tripe that...
Warm Bodies: My Heart Skips a Beat
The field is unexpectedly crowded when it comes to zombie movies that are funny. If Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies falls short of the magnificent...
Inside Job: Forever Blowing Bubbles
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something when his paycheck depends on him not understanding it.” — Upton Sinclair
The villains of...
