The Book Thief review: don’t mention the war…
Thoughtful tweens and teens interested in adventurous stories of kids their own age should love this, but adults may find the light tone off-putting.
historical
The Wind Rises review: Jiro dreams of flying
Visually ravishing, as you’d expect from Hayao Miyazaki, but there is, disappointingly, no drama and no conflict here.
Stalingrad review: life among the ruins
Russia’s first 3D IMAX spectacle is visually intense, but I never warmed to a story meant to be about human resilience.
A New York Winter’s Tale (aka Winter’s Tale) review: cold in the city
A leaden, charmless movie that is unable to commit to its own fantasy. So implausible that even Colin Farrell’s own Irish accent sounds fake.
The Monuments Men review: saving private collections (and public art)
As jaunty as Jean Dujardin’s beret, but in a sincere, old-fashioned kind of way. It could almost have been rediscovered from the 1940s…
The Invisible Woman review: sometimes it’s hard to be a woman
The story of Charles Dickens and his secret mistress is no romance, and no modest costume drama, either.
Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts (86th Academy Awards) review
There is a single thread running through these shorts, and it is deeply existential and irreducibly personal: How do we save ourselves?
Labor Day review: Stockholm-syndrome romance
A gooey nostalgic look back at that time a young boy’s mom fell in love with their kidnapper, presented under a sexy sweltering summer haze.
Inside Llewyn Davis review: trying of the human spirit
Hilarious in the Coens’ weird, askew way, but also absolutely crushing. This movie breaks my heart in a hundred different ways.
We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!) movie review (LOCO London Comedy Film Festival)
An exuberant rock ’n’ roll comedy in which three of the most memorable movie teens ever embrace their adolescent angst and give it screaming voice.
