The Salvation movie review: manifest density
Nearly Blazing Saddles without the jokes: all genre conventions with none of the fun, just your inescapable expectations met around every sun-blighted corner.
historical
Woman in Gold movie review: more than just a pretty picture
A deeply moving and very satisfying piece of entertainment that knits up seemingly disparate elements in a tapestry of family pain and pride.
The Water Diviner movie review: magic unrealism
When director Crowe sticks to historical adventure, his film is tense and exciting. But it lacks a sense of magic that it needs to make it fully engaging.
Beyond the Mask movie review: assassin’s creed
Wannabe Christian swashbuckler throws a lot of stuff up on the screen in the hopes that something will stick as exciting and romantic. None of it does.
Suite Française movie review: enemy mine to love
An immediate and intimate tale of forbidden romance and other complex emotions and contradictory obligations. This ain’t history but a very human now.
Kill the Messenger movie review: all the news that’s fit to quash
A passionate and intense drama — fueled by a fierce Jeremy Renner — that furiously underscores the problem of lickspittle corporate “journalism.”
Ida movie review: alas poor Poland?
A beautiful film, and a mysterious one. I don’t quite know what to make of it, but I have been seduced by its evasive intrigue.
Foxcatcher movie review: the rich are different
A pensive and unsettling film that defies genre description and keeps you wondering just what the heck sort of film you’re watching.
Tangerines movie review: caught in the crossfire
Slaps an honest emotional sincerity and a dry, almost humorous pragmatism in the face of macho posturing and identity tribalism.
Last Days in Vietnam documentary review: withdrawal symptoms
Paints a true-life picture of ordinary people with human consciences defying their orders and the law to do the right thing when bureaucracy fails them.
