Prisoners review: the unbearable darkness of being
Please see this movie. We need to let Hollywood know that there is, in fact, an audience for sophisticated drama for adults.
reviews by genre
Rush review: man + machine vs man + machine
A thoroughly magnificent film on every level, with astonishing performances by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl; one of the very best films of 2013.
Insidious: Chapter 2 review: ghost of a chance
The simple elegance of the first film has been lost in a jumbled mess that sometimes hits on fresh angles on ghost stories but most often is shoddy, sloppy, and lazy.
In a World… review: the sound of her voice
A fresh, funny slice-of-life, casually cutting in its feminism and utterly charming in its storytelling.
White House Down review: I’d rather be in Philadelphia
It lifts an embarrassing number of beats from Die Hard… but Channing Tatum is no Bruce Willis.
Red Obsession review: wine goes east
Sly, sometimes funny documentary version of Bottle Shock, with China playing the role of 1970s Napa as it creeps up to smack the snooty Old World wine snobs.
Museum Hours review: life as art
A little bit like a travelogue, a little bit like people-watching, this is simultaneously a relaxing and invigorating cinematic experience. Simply magnificent.
About Time review: creep trick
Arbitrary and inconsistent rules of time travel in aid of creepy romantic manipulation and temporal stalking. But hey, at least it’s got Bill Nighy!
Riddick review: men will be boys
Dispenses with all pretense that the modern action blockbuster is anything other than the confused, terrified power fantasy of a particularly sheltered and emotionally stunted teenaged boy.
Bounty Killer review
The genre equivalent of soft-core porn: it doesn’t care how strained and derivative it is as long as it is delivering flying bullets, fast cars, and closeups on women’s sashaying asses.
