Blue Caprice (aka The Washington Snipers) review
Thoughtful performances and grim visual elegance aren’t enough to save this portrait of abuse and control twisted into banal evil from becoming too banal to have much bite.
coming of age
All Cheerleaders Die review (London Film Festival)
Twists the high-school revenge story into feminist black magic.
The Spectacular Now review (London Film Festival)
Stark and gritty, this may be the most down-to-earth teen romance ever, filled with touches of unpredictable, inescapable reality.
Electro Chaabi review (London Film Festival)
An inexcusably blinkered documentary look at a modern youth movement in Cairo that utterly ignores how it cuts girls and women out of its quest for freedom.
The Kings of Summer review
Mashes a heightened sense of the absurd rather awkwardly up against arty pastoral, and the mock-seriousness of the endeavor comes across as unpleasantly snide.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones review
Way to give overwrought fan fiction a bad name. No amount of fairy dust can make this bewitching.
The Way, Way Back review: how to escape from your family
One of the more achingly poignant stories of awkward (male) adolescence I’ve seen. Sam Rockwell steals this movie more than he has ever stolen a movie before.
Kick-Ass 2 review: the mask is empty
Like a Comic-Con cosplay event gone horribly wrong, this poor excuse for an action comedy has nothing to say beyond a few expletives and nothing to offer but a shocking lack of appreciation for its own awful irony.
From Up on Poppy Hill review: gentle as a seaside breeze
Joyously warm and gentle… though perhaps too gentle to be entirely satisfying.
Blancanieves review: silent style
A valentine to early filmmaking, this silent-movie pastiche is gorgeous, lush, and bursting with passion. It presents a familiar fairy tale with a wondrous air of freshness and newfound intimacy.
