movie reviews

Grand Piano

Elijah Wood, John Cusack

Directed by: Eugenio Mira

This thriller set in a concert hall is a stunt, but a damn good one. Maybe risk hasn't died yet in filmmaking. Elijah Wood (yup, Frodo) gives one of his best performances as Tom Selznick, a pianist paralyzed from stage fright after playing an impossible piece ("La Cinquette") five years ago that wrecked his confidence. Tom is back onstage in Chicago, with his movie-star wife (Kerry Bishé) in the house, to sit at his piano and take on "La Cinquette" with a full orchestra. The Phant... | More »

Non-Stop

Liam Neeson

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Ok, who's kidding who? This tense, terrific thriller starring Liam Neeson as Bill Marks, a boozy U.S. air marshal coping with a terrorist on a transatlantic flight from New York to London, isn't new. It's "Taken" on a Plane. Accept that and you'll have a high old time. Neeson could play this paycheck stuff in his sleep, but he gives it something extra. Marks has skeletons in his closet, family affairs he hasn't managed to put in order. He's an emotional basket c... | More »

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

Elaine Stritch

Directed by: Chiemi Karasawa

If you know Elaine Stritch only for her Emmy-winning role as Alec Baldwin’s trash-talking mother on 30 Rock, you’re in for a surprise and a hell of a show. This dazzling diva of stage, screen and cabaret gets the dynamite documentary she deserves in Chiemi Karasawa’s Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. In 2011, the gifted Karasawa and her crew started following Stritch, then 86, still performing but preparing to pack it in and return to her Michigan hometown. No way does the acerbic,... | More »

The Wind Rises

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Listen up: Japan's Hayao Miyazaki, a world-class master at hand-drawn animation, is hinting that The Wind Rises may be his last full-length feature. The hell, you say. In a Hollywood world of animation flash and glitz (did you endure The Nut Job?), the delicacy and dazzle in the work of Miyazaki, 73, is to be treasured. Among his 11 features (2001's Spirited Away earned him an Oscar), The Wind Rises may come as a shock for fans of the kid-friendly, pro-feminist, deeply pacifist Miy... | More »

Robocop

Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton

Directed by: José Padilha

This Robo-reboot tries fiercely to update the satirical punch and stylistic perversity Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original. It's a futile gesture. Brazilian director José Padilha (Elite Squad, Bus 174) soldiers on stolidly, but lacks the Dutch Verheoeven's abiding sense of mischief. Go ahead, skewer American jingoism and right-wing perspectives all you want – that never gets old – but do it with a specific point of view. Padilha seems content to just go through th... | More »

The Lego Movie

Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell

Directed by: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Animated movies in 3-D are box-office bonanzas, and The Lego Movie is no exception. George Clooney's Monuments Men should prepare to be shot down. The brightly-imagined Lego Movie is also a wickedly smart and funny free-for-all, and sassy enough to shoot well-aimed darts at corporate branding. Satirical subversion in family entertainment is an unexpected treat, especially in a movie that also functions as a triumph of product placement. For plot, we get Chris Pratt voicing a block of pla... | More »