2015

Amy Review

Amy Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) I remember where I was when I found out Amy Winehouse died. At a Subway in New Jersey, I can still picture what I was wearing, what kind of day it was, how the conversation went between my friends and I. It was an awful day. No contemporary singer affected me the […]

Inside Out Review

Inside Out Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) According to director Pete Docter’s Inside Out, the human mind is a colorful place. It’s also complicated, conflicted, and perpetually changing. In that respect, the film is about as true to life in its intent (if not its execution) as any Pixar movie in recent memory. (Color-wise, of course, it’s pure fantasy. […]

Results Review

Results Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) It’s a narrow lane, but Andrew Bujalski owns it: the cinema of the weird shit people do when they’re alone. His last film, Computer Chess, touched on it, but Results goes there in a way that will make 95% of its viewers confused and uncomfortable. After all, the colorful posters with the […]

Jurassic World Review

Jurassic World Review

RATING: (3 STARS) For the third straight Jurassic film, no one has a good answer to the obvious question: Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why is Isla Nublar a place human beings want to visit? Why are parents putting their kids on planes in order to be in the immediate vicinity of giant, […]

Entourage Review

Entourage Review

RATING: (2.5 STARS) There’s a moment deep into the Entourage movie when the guys are chastising their boy Vinny Chase (Adrian Grenier) for sleeping with Emily Ratajkowski (playing herself) moments after the financier of Vince’s directorial debut leaves her house. Vince begs his closest friends for some understanding, asking them to remember who they are. […]

San Andreas Review

San Andreas Review

RATING: (1.5 STARS) One should go into a movie like San Andreas assuming he or she will have a good time. There is no other reason for this movie to exist. It’s not an acting showcase. It isn’t saying anything unique about family dynamics. And for the love of God, it offers nothing in terms […]

Aloha Review

Aloha Review

RATING: (3 STARS) You’re enjoyment of Cameron Crowe’s Aloha will likely be dependent upon how much you subscribe to and are interested in film’s auteur theory—or the idea that a director’s personal creative vision is the driving force behind a finished onscreen product. Filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese are proof positive […]

Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Mad Max: Fury Road Review

RATING: (4 STARS) Holy shit. Thirty years is a long time to wait for a new installment in a film franchise, but Mad Max: Fury Road overcomes this problem for a variety of reasons. Firstly, director George Miller simply doesn’t care if you’re familiar with what’s come before. He’s also smart enough to forge a […]

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

RATING: (3 STARS) Because it begins, ends, and is about something, Avengers: Age of Ultron already has a leg up on most other Marvel movies. And boy, it needs that leg up because there are times when this feels like one of the laziest studio movies in years. At other times, however, it reaches the […]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Review

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Review

RATING: (2.5 STARS) If there’s ever been a movie title more truthful than The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I don’t know what it is. This movie is the definition of fine. It goes down really easily because it doesn’t try to do too much. Because it can dispose of things like character introductions and […]

Furious Seven Review

Furious Seven Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) The spectre of death hangs heavy over Furious 7, the latest in the mega-crazy-super-duper popular franchise based around the words “fast,” “furious,” and “family.” The big elephant in the room, of course, is the untimely death of Paul Walker, one of the franchise’s stars, which occurred off-set while filming was underway. His […]

World of Tomorrow Review

World of Tomorrow Review

RATING: (4 STARS) It lasts just 17 minutes, but Don Herzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow packs more imagination into its running time than almost any other film I’ve ever seen. It’s a high-concept, low-sheen, utterly magical experience that, despite its brevity (or perhaps because of it), will certainly rank among my favorite films of 2015. Technically, […]

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