High-Rise movie review: afterscape in the sky (LFF 2015)
Ben Wheatley takes on J.G. Ballard, and it’s a frustrating experience: visually striking but far too literal while aiming for the allegorical.
based on a book
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 movie review: breaking the blockbuster
One of the smartest and most enthralling SF film series ever breaks more new ground as it ends on notes as emotional and provocative as they are explosive.
Brooklyn movie review: across the ocean to find yourself
Beautifully portrays a very universal experience — not only of immigration but of growing up — via an elegantly nuanced performance by Saoirse Ronan.
Truth movie review: when journalistic truth is ugly (LFF 2015)
A fascinating look at the pitfalls of modern journalism, and a compelling portrait of a journalist who paid a high price for letting them trip her up.
Goosebumps movie review: stick with the books (LFF 2015)
More theme-park attraction than movie, and paradoxically distastefully self-congratulatory about the Goosebumps phenomenon and insulting toward its author.
Steve Jobs movie review: insanely great (LFF 2015)
You’ve never seen such a compelling, entertaining movie about a genius jerk. As smart and as sleek as a Macbook Pro, and a compulsory bit of modern history.
The Program movie review: on your bike and follow the money (LFF 2015)
Pretty much strictly for fans of Ben Foster and Chris O’Dowd, who are both superb here. Probably not for fans of Lance Armstrong (if he still has any left).
The Martian movie review: life on Mars
An excellent complement to the novel, simplifying the science without dumbing it down yet retaining the suspense and urgency of its interplanetary stranding.
Room movie review: the world through new eyes (LFF 2015)
I wish I could have stopped the film — numerous times — simply to give myself a chance to step back from an emotional precipice of horror and tension.
Legend movie review: badfellas
Tom Hardy is fab, but this is GoodFellas-lite, depicting violent sociopaths as glamorous, even amusing, and lacking all understanding of what made them tick.
