
Official Secrets movie review: blow all the whistles
Not a spy thriller but a story of emotional and intellectual suspense wrangling with matters of patriotism and of conscience, and of just how far journalism’s watchdog role can and should take it.
handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Not a spy thriller but a story of emotional and intellectual suspense wrangling with matters of patriotism and of conscience, and of just how far journalism’s watchdog role can and should take it.
A gripping précis of what Edward Snowden learned at the CIA and NSA, why he went public, and why it matters. Entertaining yet also deeply unsettling.
A cold, sterile film, bereft of the spirit and danger Gustave Flaubert’s groundbreaking novel demands.
The Amazing Spider-Man? That’s a stretch. More like the Halfhearted Spider-Man. The Just-Sorta-There Spider-Man. The Familiar Spider-Man…
A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. It is a fusty nut with no kernel. It speaks an infinite deal of nothing.
The Men of Harry Potter Fortnight continues with Rhys Ifans, because he is way cuter than you think if you remember him only as the scuzzy roommate in Notting Hill…
There is a sorry tradition among children’s movies of late that dictates that bratty kids are adorable…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Okay, so: belching and pooping and, basically, the same movie all over again (not that that would be so bad, since the first one was fantastic). But also baby pigs and baby elephants, Rhys Ifans and Bill Bailey, Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ralph Fiennes in … more…
Richard Curtis appears to have nothing at all to say *about anything at all* in this mess of a misbegotten would-be comedy.
Ahhh! It’s a giant 3D movie! 1. Monsters vs. Aliens: £4.3 million (NEW) 2. The Boat That Rocked: £1.8 million (NEW) 3. Knowing: £.97 million (2nd week; drops 61%) 4. Marley & Me: £.82 million (4th week; drops 51%) 5. The Haunting in Connecticut: £.75 million (2nd week; drops 33%) (actual numbers, not estimates) I … more…