9 years ago
Reviews (10 posts found)
“American Sniper”
Warning. Spoilers regarding real-life figures lay within.
In his career-best, the 2006 war saga Letters from Iwo Jima (the companion to Flags of our Fathers), Clint Eastwood zeroed in on the story of a Japanese baker-turned-soldier named Saigo (Kazunari Nin...
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“Two Days, One Night”
In discussing Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s altogether remarkable Two Days, One Night, it’s indeed tempting to praise the movie for all the things it doesn’t do. This is a film of uncommon emotional directness, of simple truths presented unadorned. The Belgia...
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“Selma”
Note. This review originally ran as part of our coverage of the AFI Fest.
Ava DuVernay’s Selma is a joyful, angry, and sad film-- occasionally all three in the same scene. It’s smart, soulful, and deeply affecting, boasting some truly powerhouse moments and...
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“The Interview”
Well, this is awkward. I saw a movie before I was supposed to, and now it’s a movie that isn’t coming out. I got an early screening invite from a fellow critic that might have been one of the last public screenings of a $40 million comedy starring big name act...
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“The Gambler”
The Gambler is embarrassing. It’s trying, and it’s trying so hard, to be an effective character study, but in the attempt can’t even manage to be… anything, really. It’s a film that fails to be, something that can’t even be said to be happening in front of you...
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“Annie”
It recently came to my attention that my fellow film critics don’t think much of John Huston’s massive, gargantuan 1982 adaptation of the Broadway musical Annie. Sadly, I must recuse myself from this particular conversation in accordance with my brilliant frie...
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“Goodbye to All That”
With his rumpled good looks and relaxed drawl, the fine character actor Paul Schneider brought an easygoing everyman charm to the early films of David Gordon Green, and supplied anchors of authenticity in terminally whimsical efforts like Elizabethtown and Lar...
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“The Truth About You”
New Year’s Eve. A time for Best Friends™ to gather ‘round and learn Big Important Truths™ about themselves and each other. Or, in the case of The Truth About You, a time for irredeemably horrible people to say horrible things about each other in the name of “f...
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“Winter Sleep”
“I’ve never had a spare second to be bored,” exclaims Aydin (Haluk Bilginer), the protagonist of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s dauntingly titled, 197-minute long Palme d’Or winner, Winter Sleep. It’s a sentiment mirroring what one feels about the gargantuan and wordy fi...
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“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
Do you remember that pulse of excitement you felt when New Line and Warner Bros. first announced that they’d be adapting The Hobbit into a movie, a la The Lord of the Rings? Do you recall your anticipation as the project went, year by year, from being an idea ...
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