Sex, Shame, and Tears
Other actors were onscreen a lot in 2011 — Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rutger Hauer (five movies, look it up!) — but...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: When You’re Smiley…
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...
Top 10 Movies of 2011
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...
Dragon Tattoo Redo
Ever since Stieg Larsson’s flawed but highly addictive Swedish-language Millennium trilogy exploded into the English-speaking world, movie fans have been waiting for a Hollywood...
We Bought a Zoo: Animal House
There are two ways to evaluate Cameron Crowe’s family-friendly new film We Bought a Zoo. One is by the standards of other PG-rated Hollywood...
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,...
Young Adult: Gary Unmarried
Everyone connected with Young Adult seems to have something to prove. Director Jason Reitman, typecast as a purveyor of crowd-pleasing entertainment that’s mature and...
Going Holmes Again
I proudly count myself as a Sherlockian, but I try not to be pigheaded about it. I don’t insist that the current Sherlock Holmes...
Counting Down New Year’s Eve
The financial success of last year’s Valentine’s Day inspired director Garry Marshall and screenwriter Katherine Fugate to team up for yet another star-packed omnibus...
Ryan’s Hope
Ryan Bijan’s Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse is a horror film made in Fort Worth, but it looks much different from other such...
