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movie reviews

What Maisie Knew

6

Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård

Directed by: Scott McGehee and David Siegel

Hard-partying rock star Susanna, played by a firecracker Julianne Moore, divorces Beale (Steve Coogan), a self-obsessed art dealer, each uniting only in the neglect of their six-year-old daughter, Maisie (the remarkable Onata Aprile). Would you believe this film is an update of an 1897 Henry James novel? Believe it. Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (The Deep End), abetted by an astute scriptfrom Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright, find something sadly timeless in a child torn apart in... | More »

Pain and Gain

1

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie

Directed by: Michael Bay

The four words that can chill this movie critic to the bone are: Directed by Michael Bay. Remember, this is the guy who depicted the attack on Pearl Harbor from the point of view of the bomb. Maybe that's why I wasn't invited to any early screenings of Bay's latest, Pain and Gain. A studio rep informed me that the filmmaker "did not opt for a Rolling Stone review." Ha. Like that's his decision. So, heading to my local multiplex, I laid down 12 bucks for a ticket. For a ... | More »

April 25, 2013

At Any Price

5

Zac Efron, Dennis Quaid

Directed by: Ramin Bahrani

Welcome to hard times. And the world of Ramin Bahrani, a director (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) with a penchant for morality tales that tend to burden characters with more than they can carry. Not to mention audiences. Say this for Bahrani – born in North Carolina to Iranian parents – he's a filmmaker with a conscience. Where do you find that in Hollywood, where toys for boys and a snide Michael Bay-like cynicism rule the box office? At Any Price puts Bahrani knee... | More »

April 18, 2013
April 10, 2013

Disconnect

6

Jason Bateman, Alexander Skarsgard, Paula Patton

Directed by: Henry-Alex Rubin

I've read a lot about Disconnect being a rant against the Evil Empire of Digital that instead of bringing us together really does the opposite. What a bore that movie would be. Not to mention so last century. But here's the thing: Disconnect is not that movie. It's 2013: A Cyperspace Odyssey, a techno-thriller driven by genuine feeling. First-time feature director Henry Alex Rubin, working from a script by Andrew Stern, sees social media as a fact of life, like sex, drugs and ... | More »

To the Wonder

4

Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Olga Kurylenko

Directed by: Terrence Malick

Film genius to miss the mark. Case in point: Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, a beautifully empty exercise that – so glacial is the pace – makes Malick's Tree of Life look like G.I. Joe: Retaliation. As ever, you can't accuse Malick of being plot-heavy. We spot lovers Neil (Ben Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko) walking the Normandy beach near the monastery of Mont St. Michel. "Love makes us one," she says. Not exactly. When Neil and Marina, a Ukrainian divorcee ... | More »

April 4, 2013

The Company You Keep

6

Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie

Directed by: Robert Redford

Right-wingers have their panties in a bunch misreading Robert Redford's The Company You Keep as a celebration of the Weather Underground, who were 1960s radicals committed to the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. It's the corruption of Sixties idealism that sparks the interest of Redford as actor and director. In adapting Neil Gordon's novel, screenwriter Lem Dobbs tells us about extremists who went into hiding. When a present-day New York housewife, Sharon Solarz (Susa... | More »

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