Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (87th Academy Awards) review
In the deeply moving “The Bigger Picture,” Daisy Jacobs uses a fresh and unique animation style to tell a story that is full of humanity.
reviews
Amira & Sam movie review: moving on from 9/11
A delightfully engaging, convention-busting slice of of-the-moment America that is far from the typical culture-clash romantic dramedy.
Kingsman: The Secret Service movie review: forgets its manners
I cannot recall a film that left me with such a sour taste in my mouth by its end. Does the movie deliberately defy itself with obnoxious intent?
Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) movie review: how to destroy a child
A heartbreaking child’s-eye view of the moment when it begins to dawn that the world is going to be unimaginably cruel to a nonconformist.
Son of a Gun movie review: wholesale cinematic heist
Misogynistic, predictable, crammed with tonal shifts, and devoid of likable characters. Another young filmmaker has taken all the wrong cues from Hollywood.
Trash movie review: you know, for kids?
This isn’t a children’s movie… and yet it kind of is, too, with its odd mishmash of social realism, action thrills, misplaced comedy, and simplistic drama.
Big Hero 6 movie review: how to train your robot
Joyous and exhilarating. A fresh and funny animated adventure that subverts genre clichés at every turn.
Pump documentary review: it’s a gas
You will be shocked, I am sure, to discover that Big Oil has put its profits before all else (including you).
Ex Machina movie review: damselbot in distress
There’s nothing fresh or even usefully true in its cartoonish dichotomy about men, but this pseudo-SF flick will expound upon it with pretentious tedium.
The Gambler movie review: to bet, or not to bet?
It doesn’t quite work as a package, but Wahlberg is a real pleasure to watch as he crafts a portrait of a tormented anti-hero with an apparent death wish.
