Computer Chess movie review (London Film Festival)
Dryly humorous and wonderfully weird, this is a preternaturally mundane evocation of early 80s nerdery and an almost scary peek at the history of AI.
reviews by year
Trap for Cinderella review
This overblown melodrama mistakes sensationalism for story, and is yet another repulsive tale of women’s friendships as toxic.
Chasing Mavericks review
This gentle father-son(ish) tale about an expert surfer and his teen apprentice is a rare “family” movie that isn’t preachy or insipid.
Admission review: screwball smart
A romantic dramedy about a passionate erudite oddball woman with her own life? Hooray!
Diana review: princess of whines
Transforms the beloved “People’s Princess” into a drippy, unappealing rom-com heroine, sort of like Bridget Jones with bodyguards.
Thor: The Dark World review: Viking with a chance of wormholes
Think heavy-metal Lord of the Rings. With wormholes. It’s completely mad and kind of awesome.
Ender’s Game review: big ideas, small heart
My soul was never stirred. My spirit did not soar. My intellect did twitch a bit in ways that made my heart ache disagreeably, however.
Closed Circuit review: cheating in the War on Terror
Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall are as engaging as ever, and the film raises intriguing issues concerning the “War on Terror”; pity the plot descends into the ridiculous.
Blue Is the Warmest Color review (London Film Festival)
There’s nothing particularly surprising here. Not even the rather tediously obvious 15-minute all-nude lesbian fuckfest.
Mistaken for Strangers review (London Film Festival)
Perhaps the least bullshitting, most unostentatious rock doc ever, often as hilarious as This Is Spinal Tap, though with a different aim in mind in the end…
