Black Mass movie review: men behaving badly… again
A solid execution of a familiar tale, crammed with a likable, watchable cast. But it doesn’t have anything new to say about why men do despicable things.
historical
The Dressmaker movie review: haute couture as a tragicomic weapon
So entertaining, so unexpected, so wonderfully oddball, so damn good. Witty genre-busting simmering with pathos, humor, and calamity.
Trumbo movie review: liberal Hollywood? ha!
Marvelously balances the silly and the solemn. There’s almost a whiff of the Coen-esque in its slick sharpness, in its whistling past the graveyard.
Fathers & Daughters movie review: fit to be family tied
It’s all rather implausible and hugely melodramatic as it milks ham-fisted histrionics from high soap opera. A pitiable excuse for a movie.
Brooklyn movie review: across the ocean to find yourself
Beautifully portrays a very universal experience — not only of immigration but of growing up — via an elegantly nuanced performance by Saoirse Ronan.
Truth movie review: when journalistic truth is ugly (LFF 2015)
A fascinating look at the pitfalls of modern journalism, and a compelling portrait of a journalist who paid a high price for letting them trip her up.
The Keeping Room movie review: a place that women know
Call this a revisionist feminist postapocalyptic historical western home-invasion horror drama. But even that doesn’t quite do it justice.
Difret movie review: reshaping the world for women
An earnest and passionate film, based on a true story that is enraging yet inspiring, that is essential viewing for anyone concerned with women’s rights.
Experimenter movie review: the subject is you
A creepy-cool vibe of constructed cinematic artificiality echoes the illusory nature of Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiment into human behavior.
Steve Jobs movie review: insanely great (LFF 2015)
You’ve never seen such a compelling, entertaining movie about a genius jerk. As smart and as sleek as a Macbook Pro, and a compulsory bit of modern history.
