In future years, “Sparkle” will be remembered as Whitney Houston’s final bow before audiences — a legacy that, while technically accurate, will be somewhat misleading in that the late singer-actress only plays a supporting role (and a cookie-cutter one at that). She gets one big song to herself, which seems disconnected from the rest of […]
“Searching for Sugar Man” is the rarest kind of documentary — one that chronicles events so unbelievable that the viewer is content to simply sit in awe of what is unfolding before them. The filmmaking isn’t particularly sophisticated and the material isn’t particularly challenging, but by sharing such a stranger-than-fiction story, first-time director Malik Bendjelloul
Review: “Searching for Sugar Man” Read More »
“Easy Money” is being released in the United States under the banner “Martin Scorsese Presents,” an honor it most likely earned because the legendary filmmaker felt flattered by the movie’s attempts to emulate his organized crime dramas, particularly “Goodfellas.” Everyone else will wonder why they didn’t just re-watch a Scorsese joint instead, for “Easy Money”
Review: “Easy Money” Read More »
If Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the husband-and-wife directing team who burst onto the scene with the 2006 crowd-pleaser “Little Miss Sunshine,” intended for their latest film, “Ruby Sparks,” to directly represent the human condition, then their effort should be regarded as a failure. Teaming with writer Zoe Kazan, Dayton and Faris take their high-concept–a
Review: “Ruby Sparks” Read More »
Even the most vocal detractors of David Frankel’s “Hope Springs” must recognize the miracle of the film’s existence. This is a studio-funded production about the sex lives of old people that is neither an Oscar-hungry downer nor an outrageous farce. It approaches an issue that affects married couples over 40–hardly Hollywood’s target demographic–honestly and empathetically.
Review: “Hope Springs” Read More »
One moment of quiet solitude stands out amongst all the kinetic action sequences and globetrotting theatrics that have defined the Jason Bourne trilogy up to this point: a man’s lifeless body floats in the ocean, captured in low angle by a submerged camera and backlit by brilliant moonlight. It’s a shot that represents the fragility
Review: “The Bourne Legacy” Read More »
Since his audacious gangster film debut “City of God” made him an instant art house sensation in 2002, director Fernando Meirelles has tackled one heavy subject after another in what has felt like a desperate attempt to be taken seriously as an artist. In turn, Meirelles’s films have been defined by a troubling self-seriousness that
Director Jay Roach’s “Game Change,” which aired on HBO earlier this year, ranks among the most blockheaded political movies ever made. Without so much as smirking, Roach and writer Danny Strong ask the viewer to accept the impossible proposition that Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was so ill-informed when she joined the McCain campaign that
Review: “The Campaign” Read More »
Rashida Jones’ Celeste, the protagonist of “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” publishes a non-fiction book called Shitegeist, which, as you may have inferred, is about how the zeitgeist has been turned to ‘shite’ by entitled rich kids and talentless pop-stars. This could have been the basis for a sharp, funny observation of the fact that the
Review: “Celeste and Jesse Forever” Read More »
With 2009’s “Coraline” and now “ParaNorman,” the artists at LAIKA, Inc. have asserted themselves as some of the best minds in contemporary animation. While not as cerebral as Pixar’s best works, LAIKA’s two features achieve the same great feat that the productions of that preeminent studio are known for: transcending the “family film” mold by
Review: “ParaNorman” Read More »
