I waited until the last day it played the big Grossmont. My only regret over seeing it with a polite audience of four was missing out on a packed crowd’s catcalls at the mention of Marvel-denier Scorsese’s Goodfellas. The same pull that draws us to weekend binges of episodic TV …
Cheerily nostalgic college comedy, set in mid-Eighties England, built around an exceptionally endearing hero (James McAvoy), a Bristol University quiz kid thirsty for knowledge, torn in his affections between a Victoria's Secret-pretty blond Drama major and a J. Crew-pretty Jewish political activist. Choices, choices. Alice Eve, Rebecca Hall, Dominic Cooper, …
Director J.J. Abrams at his most J.J. Abrams-y. A lens flare light show. A Spielberg homage (the opening is taken straight from Raiders of the Lost Ark). Deft nostalgia-mining coupled with equally deft placement of the extracted gems in the crown of his new creation (a Tribble plays a key …
An intricate condensation of John le Carré’s novel, previously a BBC sprawler starring Alec Guinness. As the very dry, very British spy master Smiley, Gary Oldman is nearly at Sir Alec’s level. Tomas Alfredson’s film is all micro-plot observation, with expert details that link, fester, and spin webs. Sad, brainy, …
The oldening of Ben Stiller, who directs, stars, and co-writes here, continues apace. It’s not just the sort-of sad, mostly doomed attempt to recapture (silly) lightning in a (men’s fragrance) bottle 15 years after his first story about the titular superdim supermodel. (Though the few times he manages it are …