Don’t be fooled by the European poster for Paolo Sorrentino’s latest amorphous film. It may be hard to pin down what type of movie this is, but it’s definitely not the spry sex comedy hinted at in the ad campaign, where stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel sit in a swimming pool staring gob-smacked at […]
(The writer of this review in no way intends to injure relations between the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.) In recent years, natural disasters, violent atrocities, and political turmoil have been wrestling for headlines and the public’s attention. Any one instance of bad news becomes painfully easy to forget in a world of trending stories scrolled […]
The first 10 minutes of Momentum features a ludicrously awful bank heist. The thieves are dressed all in black with motorcycle helmets, and their jumpsuits have what look like computerized, pulsating reflector tape. They all speak through voice distorters, presumably to skirt identity, but in actuality they sound like Cylons from the old Battlestar Galactica. […]
If you are a young couple and have a dream of opening your own bed and breakfast, it’s best not to buy one of the oldest houses in New England for the task. Usually something very bad happened there, or something very unpleasant lives there. That’s the lesson Jessica and Dan learn in the Rasmussen […]
Directed by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker Produced by Nichols, Walker, Jenner Furst, Joey Carey and Woltermann Released by First Run Features USA. 86 min. Not rated The “you are there” Direct Cinema genre aims to make the viewer feel like an unobtrusive observer. The documentary Welcome to Leith falls partially in that […]
Written and Directed by Alex Gibney Produced by Viva Van Loock and Gibney Released by Magnolia Pictures USA. 127 min. Rated R Alex Gibney models his critical analysis of the veneration of Steve Jobs on Citizen Kane by opening his documentary with the innovator’s death at the age of 56 in 2011. Over TV news […]
Directed by Kim Farrant Produced by Naomi Wenck and Macdara Kelleher Written by Michael Kinirons and Fiona Seres Released by Alchemy Australia. 112 min. Rated R With Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Maddison Brown, Nicholas Hamilton, and Meyne Wyatt Having a child go missing is a torment. Catherine and Matthew Parker (Nicole Kidman and […]
Directed by John Pirozzi Produced by Mr. Pirozzi and Andrew Pope DVD released by Virgil Films English, Cambodian and French with English subtitles USA/Cambodia/France. 105 min. Not rated Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll lives up to its title. It provides a primer of Cambodian rock ’n’ roll from the 1950s to […]
Directed by Shira Piven Produced by Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Aaron L. Gilbert and Adam McKay Written by Eliot Laurence Released by Alchemy USA. 105 min. Rated R With Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Robbins, and Joan Cusack There’s something to be said for originality, which this Kristen […]