Ernest & Celestine review: bear and mouse are friends
Might be the most ridiculously cute movie I’ve ever seen, in a way that transforms adorableness into something honest and wise and deeply satisfying.
fantasy
A New York Winter’s Tale (aka Winter’s Tale) review: cold in the city
A leaden, charmless movie that is unable to commit to its own fantasy. So implausible that even Colin Farrell’s own Irish accent sounds fake.
The Lego Movie review: take the brick pill
You’ve seen this all before — it’s Toy Story meets The Matrix — just not done in Legos.
I, Frankenstein review: beware, for it is pointless
It’s alive! In a technical sense: images flicker on the screen, etc. But it is a soulless, unholy monstrosity. Behold: the movie without a protagonist!
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (86th Academy Awards) review
The French “Mr. Hublot” creates an utterly real yet completely fantastical world, a palpable steampunk environment of gorgeous mechanical loveliness.
Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts (86th Academy Awards) review
My favorite of the five films is the British “The Voorman Problem,” starring Martin Freeman and Tom Hollander in a hilarious and provocative bit of speculative fantasy…
Devil’s Due review: she’s having Satan’s baby
This bunch of found footage should have stayed lost.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty review: Ben Stiller’s excellent adventure
An airy fairy tale, buoyed by an infectious joy, about the very modern, bittersweetly pragmatic ache that comes with maintaining your soul and integrity as the world falls apart around you.
Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie review: where is an extinction-level event when you need one?
Sub-vaudeville 1950s sitcom humor and a horrifically dated message about boys as heroes and girls as the heroes’ property. You know, for kids!
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review: are we there yet?
Smaug is a magnificent cinematic creation… but there’s no good reason it takes so damn long to get to him.
