The King’s Speech Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The King’s Speech has all the pieces necessary to be a masterpiece. The ensemble is as good as any this year. The writing is spot-on. The cinematography, art direction, and score are all fantastic. And Tom Hooper’s direction is confident and smart. The only thing missing is that little extra umph—the quality […]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Coming off the high that was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, my anticipation was off-the-charts for the sixth film in J.K. Rowling’s hugely popular series—Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not only is the film based on what is, in my opinion, the strongest novel in the series, but […]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Finally, the Harry Potter series has really come alive. Order of the Phoenix, the fifth installment of J.K. Rowling’s hugely popular series, is far and away the best of the bunch so far. Now that the kiddy stuff has been dispensed of, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and all the others can begin dealing […]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review
RATING: (3 STARS) With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the series’ filmmakers reached their biggest obstacle to a successful adaptation thus far—condensing the enormous fourth Harry Potter novel into a manageable 150 minutes. Of course, purists fumed over the cuts, but on the whole, I think screenwriter Steve Kloves did a solid, if imperfect, job. […]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review
RATING: (3 STARS) For many, Prisoner of Azkaban marks the apex of the Harry Potter film series. I don’t share that belief, but I do think it’s one of the series’ better entries. Somewhat ironically, most of my issues stem from the narrative itself. I think Prisoner of Azkaban is easily the weakest novel in […]
Gosford Park Review
RATING: (3 STARS) It takes great skill to make a film like Gosford Park. Besides the obvious technical work needed to create the world of this film, director Robert Altman also must work hard to manage a group of nearly 25 important characters. And each actor needs to know his or her place in the […]
The Book of Eli Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Post-apocalyptic films have been big over the past year or so. The Road, 2012, even Zombieland touch on the human condition at a time when society has collapsed—all to varying degrees of success. The Book of Eli is 2010’s entry into the genre, and it does nothing new, nothing interesting to set […]
