In films like 21 Grams, Biutiful, and Babel, he revels in the misery of his characters and then contrives to make them even more miserable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of misery and pretentiousness in Birdman (which is subtitled The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) but its mostly psychosomatic—and often played for laughs, which is a new thing for Iñárritu.
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The ABCs of Death 2 moves quickly and most of it is ultimately very forgettable, but I still find myself drawn toward its desire to be different and truly artistic in its approach.
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Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an intense, magnetic performance that is the highlight of Nightcrawler, the directoral debut from writer Dan Gilroy. The film follows Gyllenhaal’s Louis Bloom, a disconnected loaner who stumbles into the world of on-the-scene video journalism. Bloom is a quick study, as we witness him learn the seedy business […]
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The Two Faces of January brings three solid performances together to help a decent script turn into an hour and a half of quite entertaining film.
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It just doesn’t get much better than a film that takes a few minutes to ratchet up the tension via that classic struggle over which wire to cut so as to defuse a bomb and avert catastrophe. To be fair, it’s a somewhat tired trope that’s been done to death, yet when it is executed well, it’s a slam dunk for that extra pinch of tension screenwriters love to mine for.
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The effortless chemistry of Murray and Lieberher are the main reason that, even at its most clichéd, St. Vincent mostly works.
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Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up Where did this one come from? Keanu Reeves may be one of the most laid back celebrities on the planet, but in his 12 years since completing The Matrix Trilogy, his career has been all over the place, taking heartbreaking roles in films such as A Scanner Darkly or playing up […]
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What is remarkable about The Vanishing is how, like Gone Girl, it reveals much about its central mystery fairly early on in the film. Unlike Gone Girl, it continues to deepen its characters and maintain a believable sense of dread that plays into its central conceit.
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Robert Downey Jr.’s new cinematic vehicle, gives the viewer just enough salt, just enough of the bile of family life, in an attempt to cover the overly manipulative and sentimental story. In spite of a remarkable cast, and a handful of exceptional moments, The Judge falls prey to the emotional wish fulfillment of most estranged father and son stories.
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A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California.
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[Minor Rock Fist Up] “My muse is not a horse and i am in no horse race and if indeed she was, still i would not harness her to this tumbrel – this bloody cart of severed heads and glittering prizes. My muse may spook! May bolt! May abandon me completely!” The above letter was […]
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Buried somewhere beneath the button-pushing gender politics and all-too-convenient plot twists in Gone Girl, there are some mildly interesting points being made about modern marriage. But after two and a half hours of soapy ridiculousness that wouldn’t be out of place on TV’s The Bold and the Beautiful, the movie just seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
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A mother of a newborn baby is tormented by a demon attempting to hurt her child while skeptical father has no interactions with said demon. Add a dash of Satanic cult members, a priest, and an older woman who instantly understands of her predicament, mix thoroughly, and bake at 666 degrees until done.
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Out now in a new restored 4K digital restoration on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection, this emotionally raw picture combines minimalistic acting, evocative framing, and unabashed melodrama for a timeless moviegoing experience.
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