In his fourth outing, Daniel Craig's iteration of superspy James Bond takes his undersized suits, hangdog expression, and psychological damage on an epic, eye-popping, worldwide hunt for...closure? (The personal and political are pretty much identical here, and a spectre is, of course, a ghost — the sort of things that …
Dag nab it, not everything has to be Dune, blithely cutting off mid-story because well, it's just that big a tale. It's arguable — more than arguable, it's sort of obvious that you're better off ending your movie with the end of a story — even if it clearly sets …
Never mind “Amazing” or “Spectacular” as a descriptor; how about “Improbable”? As in, what are the odds that a film with six credited screenwriters and a director (Jon Watts) with more Onion content than anything else in his resume could recapture the youthful thrill of superhero movies in general and …
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Dissociative Identity Disorder. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan reminds everyone why folks used to associate him with Alfred Hitchcock, swiping a mental condition from Psycho, a sympathetic shrink from Spellbound, and a bold theorist from Rope. (Oh, and there’s some good …
Ever been on a 90-minute sugar high? Ever wondered what you would do if you managed to steal a magic book that allowed you to rewrite reality? Ever considered the metaphysical implications of writing "The End" on a page in said book? Ever wondered what lovable cartoon sea sponge Spongebob …
Takes its name from a team of investigative journalists at The Boston Globe, and provides a touching ode to the old-fashioned notion that some things simply need reporting; never mind the effort, the expense, or the effect on circulation. Here, the thing in question is the awful failure of the …
In lieu of a review, here are some actual lines of dialogue that should give you a sense of what has been offered in lieu of a watchable film: “Never underestimate the power of puke.” “What part of ‘chillax’ don’t you understand?” “Pull my finger.” “I always knew you were …
Writer-director Ruben Östlund takes aim at the whited sepulcher of Western Civ and liberal democracy with the story of a Stockholm museum curator and his new exhibit: a lighted square that serves as “a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within its boundaries, we all share equal rights and obligations.” Outside …
In 1971, Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo decided to investigate "how an institution affects individual behavior" by hiring a bunch of students to portray guards and prisoners in a mock prison. This is the story of that, albeit in well-acted, fictionalized form. The goings-on "inside" are queasily fascinating at first, as …
Actor Bradley Cooper puts on the hats of writer, director, and soulful, drunken country rocker for the latest version of this oft-told tale of lovers whose stars are crossing (hers ascending, his crashing to earth). In this case, the “her” is known pop-star quantity Lady Gaga, a singer whose work …
Actor Bradley Cooper puts on the hats of writer, director, and soulful, drunken country rocker for the latest version of this oft-told tale of lovers whose stars are crossing (hers ascending, his crashing to earth). In this case, the “her” is known pop-star quantity Lady Gaga, a singer whose work …
Actor Bradley Cooper puts on the hats of writer, director, and soulful, drunken country rocker for the latest version of this oft-told tale of lovers whose stars are crossing (hers ascending, his crashing to earth). In this case, the “her” is known pop-star quantity Lady Gaga, a singer whose work …
Pretty young Jane (an endlessly appealing Dree Hemingway) wakes up one morning, surveys the sun-washed anonymity of her rented room in the Valley, and decides to do something about it. She goes garage-saling for some personal touches, and winds up buying a thermos from cranky widow Sadie (Besedka Johnson). Surprise! …
A welcome development: big-screen luminaries (Judi Dench, Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Keira Knightley, Tom Hiddleston, et. al.) lending their luster to the short-film form. At their best, short films function like short stories, trimming away every excess to deliver aesthetic completion in a fraction of the time. It's a difficult …
File under: Returns, diminishing. Also under: Titles, misleading, as this entry in the rebooted sci-fi franchise is very much a circling back. Justin Lin has taken over the helm from J.J. Abrams, but he’s not about to change course, at least as far as reusing old material goes. So yeah, …