Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter movie review: Minnesota odd-yssey
Weirdly funny and weirdly sad, one woman’s slo-mo nervous breakdown becomes an exercise in pathos that is unforgettably poignant.
girls/women
Fifty Shades of Grey movie review: neurotica
A charm-free hero with control issues and a passive, fretful heroine have coy and tediously vanilla pretend-sex. This is meant to be erotic?
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.
Jupiter Ascending movie review: princess drearies
Sees no need to engage metaphor or dispense with cliché, so when you haven’t seen it before, you can’t believe what you’re seeing. And not in a good way.
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.
Tales of the Grim Sleeper documentary review: just listen
Filmmaker Nick Broomfield does something completely astonishing (though it shouldn’t be): he listens to people the cops utterly ignored.
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.
Amira & Sam movie review: moving on from 9/11
A delightfully engaging, convention-busting slice of of-the-moment America that is far from the typical culture-clash romantic dramedy.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death movie review: orphan blech
Thinks it’s hitting notes of subconscious dread, but it’s just swinging a sledgehammer of tropes and hoping one of them sticks. (Spoiler: None do.)
Annie movie review: abandoned child
Quvenzhané Wallis is adorable and Cameron Diaz is a hoot. But the movie is energetic yet bland, inoffensive and instantly forgettable.
