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.”
political
Blackhat movie review: broken code
This mysteriously misbegotten flick should be a gritty 10-hour miniseries so it would have time to explore its ideas and potentially fascinating characters.
Virunga documentary review: no walk in the park
This is not a nature documentary, though there are some beautiful scenes of wild spaces. This is war journalism, tense and upsetting.
Leviathan movie review: you can’t fight city hall
The angry grandeur of its despair over how ordinary people get screwed by the powerful may be uniquely Russian, but it will hit home everywhere.
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.
Selma movie review: the march of time is slow
A magnificent film, vital and alive, with the most profound sense of immediacy I think I’ve ever felt in a historical story.
Rosewater movie review (London Film Festival)
Jon Stewart’s first film is passionate and principled, as I expected, but also hopeful, almost serene, and even gently amusing, which I did not.
A Most Wanted Man movie review: intelligence afterscape
A smart, classy, slow-burn thriller made up of the stuff of authentic spy work and plenty of bitter irony about modern geopolitics.
Citizenfour documentary review (London Film Festival)
Edward Snowden speaks. Buy a ticket to this film… and use your credit card, so the NSA knows you care about this stuff.
Dracula Untold movie review: it doesn’t suck
A solid action fantasy more elemental and visceral than I expected, thanks to the potent presence of Luke Evans.
