Pitch Perfect 2 movie review: out of tune
Some sweet sisterhood and truly fantastic musical performances get dragged down by awkward, lazy, embarrassing attempts at humor.
girls/women
Mad Max: Fury Road movie review: warlords is hell
Astonishing. Achieves its grotesque, magnificent brutality in an old-fashioned way that serves as a smackdown to bloated, sterile CGI monstrosities.
Testament of Youth movie review: woman’s war story
A compassionate, distressing tale of a woman’s determination to find her own purpose, full of heartbreaking moments that pile up until they’re unbearable.
Girlhood and Honeytrap movie(s) review: mean girl streets
Two films about poor black teen girls offer harrowing — and very universal — portraits of how our culture tries to crush the spirit out of all girls.
The Age of Adaline movie review: time enough for love
A pleasant and undemanding romantic drama that takes great care not to upset you unduly with strong emotion or embarrassing passion.
Boy Meets Girl movie review: a slightly kinder world
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smarter, warmer, more honest depiction of human sexuality than this roundrobin of emotion and attraction. I love this movie.
Far from the Madding Crowd movie review: a woman’s choices
Ridiculously romantic in all the best ways, and more modern, more progressive, and even just plain more grownup that half the movies thrown at us today.
Still Alice movie review: a true horror movie
Julianne Moore’s terror at watching her own emotional and intellectual life slip away is palpable, and much scarier to me than any slasher movie.
Alex of Venice movie review: no mess like home
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is eminently relatable in a compassionate, human-scaled movie of the sort that movies have almost forgotten of late.
A Little Chaos movie review: necessary fantasy
Romantic and funny and smart and wise and just plain different. This is a historical costume dramedy romp about gardening. How cool is that?
