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1920s

Vita & Virginia movie review: the 1920s London literary scene, drained of all passion

Sun, Jul 07, 2019
17 comments

The legendary literary lesbian romance, starring the incendiary duo of Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki, is criminally blah, lacking all sexual and intellectual passion. How does this happen?

| 17 Comments

Tolkien movie review: it doesn’t wander, but it’s lost

Wed, May 08, 2019
18 comments

This infuriatingly reductive biopic of the Hobbit author renders him as stolid and dull, and removes all the mystery and the wonder from creative inspiration. Literal-minded and free of magic.

| 18 Comments

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald movie review: the crimes of this movie, though…

Tue, Nov 20, 2018
22 comments

It certainly is MORE than the first movie: more incoherent, more confused about who its protagonist is, more crammed with contrivance and coincidence. Even the title is more nonsensical this time.

| 22 Comments

Sweet Country movie review: an essential confrontation with the ugly not-so-past past

Mon, Apr 23, 2018
4 comments

As harshly beautiful as its landscape, this is a stark corrective to the American western it echoes, and a pragmatic confrontation with the deep, tenacious roots of modern racism.

| 4 Comments

The Lodgers movie review: home is where the haunting is

Tue, Feb 27, 2018
no comments yet

Cursed twins who speak in faux-byronic enigmas, a crumbling manse full of dead birds and velvet drapes, and strained psychosexual nonsense. There’s nothing eerie here, just the puerile and misjudged.

| Leave a comment

movies by or about women opening US/Can from Fri Feb 23

Fri, Feb 23, 2018
no comments yet

Natalie Portman and Bingbing Li have scientific adventures, Rachel McAdams has a nerd adventure, and more…

| Leave a comment

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women movie review: secret identities (LFF 2017)

Mon, Oct 16, 2017
12 comments

A sweet, romantic story about the polyamorous triad that created a beloved superhero… and about the power of comic books to speak to our inner lives.

| 12 Comments

Queen of the Desert movie review: Gertrude Bell gets forgotten again

Wed, Apr 26, 2017
13 comments

This may be Werner Herzog’s most conventional film, but its mostly untold true story knows what it means for a woman to choose a life of adventure and intellect.

| 13 Comments

The Lost City of Z movie review: archaeology was his religion

Tue, Apr 18, 2017
6 comments

An adventure of the intellect and of the heart with the real-life explorer who inspired Indiana Jones, one more about the journey than the destination.

| 6 Comments

Live by Night movie review: criminal tedium

Thu, Jan 05, 2017
5 comments

Commits the cardinal sin of cinema: it’s boring. Feels like two hours of highlights from a 20-episode miniseries that only hint at a rich story tapestry.

| 5 Comments
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