Experimenter movie review: the subject is you
A creepy-cool vibe of constructed cinematic artificiality echoes the illusory nature of Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiment into human behavior.
drama
Mississippi Grind movie review: a killer hand
A compelling character study of two intriguingly flawed people, the sort of richly observed drama that has gotten all but pushed out of mainstream cinema.
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.
Dukhtar movie review: giving voice to women who have none
A gripping story from a place where women are less than second-class citizens that insists that they are, in fact, people who deserve to live as they please.
99 Homes movie review: the foreclosing of the American dream
A horror story of today’s economy, of America’s heartless culture in which maximizing profit is all. Michael Shannon brings his usual terrifying intensity.
Suffragette movie review: then they fight you (LFF 2015)
The first feature film ever about the women who fought for their right to vote is glorious. It is angry and passionate and defiant. It is essential.
Sicario movie review: lies, injustice, and the American way
The “War on Drugs” has never felt more like an actual war in this brutal, scathing condemnation of the lawlessness of the battle… on the “good guys” side.
Life movie review: how not to be famous
A smart, wistful exploration of art, ambition, and celebrity, with appealingly melancholic performances by Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan.
