The Conjuring review: they make me believe
Smart, stylish horror flick, though a standout more for its elegant performances than any original scares.
2013 theatrical releases
From Up on Poppy Hill review: gentle as a seaside breeze
Joyously warm and gentle… though perhaps too gentle to be entirely satisfying.
The Canyons review: where’s the cheese?
This pitiful would-be-sleazy melodrama is so terrible it can’t even manage to be cheesy.
The Smurfs 2 review: a smurfeit of Smurfs
I am haunted by the crazed desperation in Jayma Mays’s eyes. She may have been blinking out a Morse-code SOS, but I can’t be sure…
Europa Report review: quest for fire (of knowledge)
I didn’t think we were making movies like this anymore. Very near future. Hard science. Nothing fantastical. Space geekery galore, gorgeous and authentic.
Blackfish review (Sheffield Doc/Fest)
A horrifying, heartbreaking eye-opener about human inhumanity to other intelligent and emotional beings who share our planet.
Frances Ha review: girl uninterrupted
Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig have carved out, with effortless elegance and ease, a cinematic space for a woman to be, unapologetically, herself.
Reality review: television becomes us
Italian satire amusingly sends up our obsession with reality TV, but not in a wholly satisfying way.
Breathe In review: every man’s fantasy — blech
Dear Penthouse Forum: I am an ordinary high school teacher, happily married. I never thought anything like this would happen when we hosted a beautiful, brilliant British foreign exchange student…
In the House (Dans la maison) review: humour noir
As a black comedy, this never quite catches fire, though there is some mild amusement to be found in its social satire.
