7 years ago
Reviews (10 posts found)
Jeff Garlin’s ‘Dealin’ With Idiots’: With Friends Like These, Who Needs A Script?
There is hardly a more affable presence in comedy today than Jeff Garlin. The Chicago-born standup comic has gained notoriety for his near-omnipresence in television and film, both behind and in front of the camera, with ties that vary from underground absurdi...
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Glitz, Gloss and Flesh in Michael Winterbottom’s Shapely ‘The Look of Love’
Director Michael Winterbottom and actor Steve Coogan's latest unorthodox biopic is yet another dizzying, boundlessly engaging achievement from the as-of-yet inextinguishable pairing behind 24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story and The ...
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Thomas Vinterberg Makes An Emotionally Powerful Return to Form with ‘The Hunt’
It feels like over the years the once bright star of Thomas Vinterberg's has somewhat dimmed. The director is still remembered and praised for the groundbreaking Festen, carried out by the guidelines Dogme 95, a manifesto that he was a co-author of. But since ...
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‘Crystal Fairy’: A Hit and Miss Success from Chilean Filmmaker Sebastián Silva
Crystal Fairy is a movie for people who like Michael Cera and kooky, free-spirited female characters. It's even more of a movie for people who hate Michael Cera and kooky, free-spirited female characters.
Chilean director Sebastián Silva and co. have ma...
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‘Viola’ Resembles A Clear Marking of Artistic Profoundness from Director Matías Piñeiro
Oh what an experience and film Viola is. With each passing second, the elusive mystery of its text swirls in and around us as it emits a delirious scent of experimental playfulness. The film was directed by young Argentinian auteur Matías Piñeiro, whose brief ...
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Guillermo Del Toro’s Rousing ‘Pacific Rim’ Is a Joyous Homage to Pacific Inspirations
Any Filipino who grew up as a kid in the early 80s will tell you about their love for giant robots. As a country that was once invaded by Japan, it can seem strange that Philippine culture would wholeheartedly embrace an invasion of mammoth-sized mechas during...
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‘Fruitvale Station’: A Powerful and Wildly Imperfect Recreation of A Tragic Injustice
Republished and altered from our coverage of the 2013 LA Film Festival.
Reviewing a film like Fruitvale Station is challenging. Movies based on true stories are already hard enough to critique on a plot or character level, but when you're dealing with such...
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‘The Way, Way Back’ is Effortlessly Charming and Irresistibly Sweet
The Way, Way Back is an odd movie to critique. It’s an astoundingly sweet, lovable, immensely enjoyable little film that hits all the right notes as you’re watching it thanks to its excellent cast and sweet-natured humor. And yet, it isn't until further retros...
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‘Persistence of Vision’: An Incomplete Portrait of an Unfinished Project
The Thief and the Cobbler is the greatest movie never quite made, and the biggest tragedy in the history of animation. As the first major telling of the movie's sad tale, Persistence of Vision doesn't measure up like it should. The documentary does a good job ...
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‘The Lone Ranger’ Is A Repulsive Racist Mess
The opening scene of The Lone Ranger takes place in San Francisco in 1933, as a young boy wanders the hallways of a Wild West diorama at a local carnival. He passes two taxidermy beasts, a buffalo and a grizzly bear, and then encounters what may be the most te...
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