movie reviews
What Maisie Knew
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
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 »
Mud
Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols is something rare in film right now: an original voice, a writer and director whose work richly rewards careful attention. See his Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter (both starring the exceptional Michael Shannon) if you need convincing. Or you can start with Mud, a typical Nichols movie in that it sneaks up on you all normal-like and then pulls the rug out. Two Arkansas boys, 14-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his best bud, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), are just dicking around like... | More »
At Any Price
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 »
Oblivion
Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Earth is a garbage dump. Alien wars have left the future in ruins. The remnants of humanity have taken refuge on a space station. A pair of unlikely lovers are assigned from on high to do the robotic work of reclaiming vital resources and maybe saving the planet. OK, that's the plot of Pixar's WALL-E. Minus the animation, it's also the motor that drives Oblivion, a fantasy without an original thought in its sleek, empty head. Director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) knows from ... | More »
42
Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford
Directed by: Brian Helgeland
No one argues that Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson could slide into a base like a man on fire. It was a bitch to tag him out. 42, the film that details Robinson's groundbreaking start as the first African-American since the 1880s to cross major league baseball's color line, would be easy to tag out as a tear-jerking civics lesson like The Blind Side. But writer-director Brian Helgeland touches home on the story's sheer emotional velocity. 42, named for the jersey number Robinson ... | More »
Disconnect
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
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 »
Trance
Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle's trippy, Inception-like thriller is a hypnotic head trip that demands you trust no one. I'm down with that. Boyle, an Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire and the twisted mister behind Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, 127 Hours and the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, is out to dazzle us with Trance. And, boy, does he ever! You're in for a mind-bending spin. The script, by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge, is a setup, a series of them. James McA... | More »
The Company You Keep
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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