Carrie review: women who hate women
I’m struck by the perversity of a story four decades old about religious misogyny and basic feminism and the perniciousness of bullying that still feels fresh and relevant…
fantasy
Frozen review: I have chills
The showstopping central musical number is a glorious anthem to female power and ability… and so, in fact, is the whole wonderful movie. Disney is finally getting it. (new DVD/VOD US/Can)
Thor: The Dark World review: Viking with a chance of wormholes
Think heavy-metal Lord of the Rings. With wormholes. It’s completely mad and kind of awesome.
Machete Kills review: justice is bloody (hilarious)
Forget about the socially conscious core that fueled the exploitation engine of the first film. This one is flat-out, no-message action comedy, outrageous and hilarious.
All Cheerleaders Die review (London Film Festival)
Twists the high-school revenge story into feminist black magic.
Citadel review
A familiar story of sinister creature frights and psychological horror gets a little boost from a gloomy mood of urban decay and isolation.
Dark Touch review: Carrie on and on
Elegantly atmospheric indie horror drama plumbs typically unseen depths of children’s coping mechanisms in the face of terrible real-life experience.
Insidious: Chapter 2 review: ghost of a chance
The simple elegance of the first film has been lost in a jumbled mess that sometimes hits on fresh angles on ghost stories but most often is shoddy, sloppy, and lazy.
About Time review: creep trick
Arbitrary and inconsistent rules of time travel in aid of creepy romantic manipulation and temporal stalking. But hey, at least it’s got Bill Nighy!
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.
