Precinct Seven Five (aka The Seven Five) documentary review: badfellas
A Scorsese-esque look, fascinating and horrifying, at the 1990s NYPD scandal that saw cops become the biggest, baddest gang on the city streets.
historical
The Diary of a Teenage Girl movie review: crossing no-woman’s-land to adulthood
It shouldn’t be radical to see a movie treat a girl with this level of appreciation and understanding of her most intimate inner self. Yet it is.
Best of Enemies documentary review: “the practice of malice”
A brilliant, hilarious, exhilarating look at the Gore Vidal v. William F. Buckley paradigm-busting 1968 debates that changed TV journalism for the worse.
Mr. Holmes movie review: the case of the missing myth
It looks lovely and Ian McKellen is amazing, of course, but it’s not very Holmesian. I suspect Holmes himself would snort in derision at its sentimentality.
13 Minutes (aka Elser) movie review: the ultimate what-if
This intense dramatization of the true story of a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1939 is an unpleasant experience but a provocative one.
Terminator Genisys movie review: back from the future… again
I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu.
Slow West movie review: dark horseplay
Michael Fassbender is never not worth watching, and his unique blend of cynical smarts and weary humor is perfectly suited to this bitterly funny road trip.
Minions movie review: the curtain of yellow mystique falls
I love the Minions and I thought they totally deserved their own movie. But I was wrong. Or, at least, this movie is not the movie they deserve.
Madame Bovary movie review: why woman why cry?
A cold, sterile film, bereft of the spirit and danger Gustave Flaubert’s groundbreaking novel demands.
McFarland USA (aka McFarland) movie review: run and deliver
“Put Kevin Costner in it and you’ve got a sporty Stand and Deliver. The script writes itself.”
