McFarland USA (aka McFarland) movie review: run and deliver
“Put Kevin Costner in it and you’ve got a sporty Stand and Deliver. The script writes itself.”
2015 theatrical releases
In the Name of My Daughter movie review: suspenseless Riviera
Not even Catherine Deneuve can save this dramatically inert soap opera of corruption and obsession, which does not even resolve its central mystery.
Forbidden Films: The Hidden Legacy of Nazi Film documentary review: the power of propaganda
A frustrating movie in some ways, but an important reminder of the power of cinema to manipulate and seduce us, and not always for the better.
Spy movie review: the other gals
Does some wonderfully seditious feminist things while also being funny as hell. Finally, we are asked to laugh with Melissa McCarthy, not at her.
The Connection (La French) movie review: not-so-good fellas
With supercool 70s chic and a smart crime thriller vibe, this is a welcome throwback to action dramas of the past, before they chose spectacle over story.
Results movie review: emotional workout
Bracingly off-kilter, a sort of anti rom-com that sends up a cultlike subculture while embracing the full, curious humanity of those who live in it.
Man Up movie review: lie cute
I hate movies like this, in which it’s meant to be adorable when people lie in the name of love. And I particularly hate what this movie does to Lake Bell.
San Andreas movie review: 9.6 on the Ridiculous Scale
Cornball disaster-porn melodrama… in 3D! Dumb, insulting, and bloodless. It’s Hollywood’s subconscious death wish brought to life, in more ways than one.
The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) movie review: cruel intentions
I have a terrible suspicion that filmmaker Tom Six would be delighted to learn that someone in the real world had tried to create a human centipede.
The Loft movie review: cheaters code
Plausibility isn’t in the cards for this odious excuse for a thriller. This is all about sexy danger, for sociopathic, misogynistic values of “sexy danger.”
