Old Fashioned movie review: how would Jesus date?
Old-fashioned is right. Like how the Taliban is old-fashioned. Behold some pretty despicable passive-aggressive othering of women in the name of “respect.”
drama
Two Days, One Night movie review: on the coins of a dilemma
A genuine horror story, sweaty with a palpable ring of truth about the unending fear that accompanies life on the knife edge of financial despair.
Selma movie review: the march of time is slow
A magnificent film, vital and alive, with the most profound sense of immediacy I think I’ve ever felt in a historical story.
Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts (87th Academy Awards) review
Three of the five nominees are about women, and it’s hardly a surprise that their fresh perspective results in stories that are new and original.
The Devil’s Violinist movie review: all the wrong notes
A hilariously histrionic depiction of 19th-century superstar violinist Niccolò Paganini’s rise to fame, far more Monty Python than Mozart.
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (87th Academy Awards) review
In the deeply moving “The Bigger Picture,” Daisy Jacobs uses a fresh and unique animation style to tell a story that is full of humanity.
Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) movie review: how to destroy a child
A heartbreaking child’s-eye view of the moment when it begins to dawn that the world is going to be unimaginably cruel to a nonconformist.
Son of a Gun movie review: wholesale cinematic heist
Misogynistic, predictable, crammed with tonal shifts, and devoid of likable characters. Another young filmmaker has taken all the wrong cues from Hollywood.
Ex Machina movie review: damselbot in distress
There’s nothing fresh or even usefully true in its cartoonish dichotomy about men, but this pseudo-SF flick will expound upon it with pretentious tedium.
The Gambler movie review: to bet, or not to bet?
It doesn’t quite work as a package, but Wahlberg is a real pleasure to watch as he crafts a portrait of a tormented anti-hero with an apparent death wish.
