The Muppets review: are we not men? we are weirdoes
What is a Muppet? Is it something one is born? Is it something one chooses? Is it a state of mind? Is it a lifestyle?
reviews
Need for Speed review: might as well be based on a breakfast cereal
Thinks it’s poetical and epic, and the more dramatic it thinks it’s being, the more hilariously histrionic it all is.
The Boy Who Cried review (The Hope Theatre, Islington)
This fascinating new plays works as a bitter commentary on the bureaucraticization of torture, and the difficulties of dealing with mental illness.
The Patience Stone review: a woman’s place
A beautiful and haunting Afghan film about love, devotion, and a woman’s “duty”; a remarkable feminist story from the unlikeliest place on the planet.
The Broken Circle Breakdown review: a mournful tune
Electric sexiness and very modern motifs overlie a wonderfully old-fashioned melodrama… a highly gratifying one, if you enjoy a good ol’ weep.
Out of the Furnace review: brothers in yawns
A pungent reek of testosterone stinks up this high-toned apologetic for vigilantism and revenge. Still: great performances! (new DVD/VOD US/Can)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (aka The Butler) review: civil-rights servant
A deeply moving melodrama about a subtly subversive black butler at the heart of the White House. You will need Kleenex.
Short Term 12 review: life in the long term
A heartbreaking drama about the lingering affects of childhood abuse and neglect, even under the best of curative circumstances.
Drinking Buddies review: subtextual romance
A beautifully observed dramedy about modern friendship and romance; funny, poignant, unforgettable.
Particle Fever review: asking really big questions about the smallest possible things
A funny, exhilarating, suspenseful documentary about the Large Hadron Collider, and how physics is more akin to philosophy and art than you may have imagined.
