The D Train (aka Bad Bromance) movie review: when idiot men can do no wrong
Woefully bad feint at a dramedy in which everyone agrees the “hero” is a terrible excuse for a man… and he gets the message that he is awesome anyway.
2015 theatrical releases
Dope movie review: not your typical high-school comedy
Not without its problems, but mostly a smart, engaging, bigotry-busting escapade with a hugely appealing young cast and an unflaggingly cheerful optimism.
Aloha movie review: hello, and good-bye
A mess of a romantic dramedy full of colonialistic offensiveness, forced quirkiness, implausible emotion, and oblivious masculine self-centeredness.
Little Boy movie review: faith-based bomb
A shamefully miscalculated tale of whimsy and come-to-Jesus inspiration with a bizarrely inappropriate haze of Norman Rockwell-esque nostalgia.
The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence documentaries review: when horror doesn’t destroy humanity
Piercing insights into the minds of murderers, and then astonishing generosity from those left behind. Deeply despairing, then restores a bit of hope.
Theeb movie review: a tiny slice of the Great War, through a child’s eyes
A gorgeous, cracking adventure with a smart ring of authenticity, full of pulpy twists and perils, and with a sweetly naive but gruffly charming young hero.
Youth movie rating: red light
Overwrought nine-tenth-life crisis drama; not even a great cast can create sympathy for the artistic and existential turning points on arty display.
Mustang movie review: the “wife factory”
Smart, perceptive, keenly observant, heartbreaking: how the world crushes girls and turns lively people into automatons merely because they are female.
Anomalisa movie review: maximal mundanity
An astonishing, even perception-altering experience that represents a startling use of animation to tell a story that no live-action film could tell.
Son of Saul movie review: how to remain human
Did you think you had heard all the unbearable stories about the Holocaust? You hadn’t. Hard to watch, but an essential installment of Holocaust cinema.
