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Southbound

Southbound comes from the makers of the popular “V/H/S” series, and they are doing their darndest to bring back the horror compilation, a long dormant venture that most recently peaked in the 1980s with Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. Southbound ditches the campy humor of those examples and tries for a more gritty, grungy […]

Winter on Fire

 This revolution was televised. Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom opens on Day 92, February 20, 2014, with a reporter in a makeshift helmet ducking after shots ring out, before he plunges in to help drag bodies away from the chaotic streets of Kiev. Such vivid coverage was enough to get more people out […]

I Smile Back

It would be a gross understatement to say that I Smile Back is a bit of a downer. The film covers depression, drug use, and childhood trauma, among other things. The story itself is fairly straightforward, but it’s the main performance that makes the experience worthwhile: Sarah Silverman commits completely to an extremely challenging character. […]

The Inhabitants

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 […]

Strangerland

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 […]

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten

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 […]

Tangerines

Written and Directed by Zaza Urushadze Produced by Urushadze and Ivo Felt DVD released by First Run Features Estonian and Russian with English subtitles Estonia/Republic of Georgia. 89 min. Not rated. With Lembit Ulfsak, Mikheil Meskhi, Giorgi Nakhashidze, Elmo Nüganen, and Raivo Trass In 1992, during the war between Georgia and the breakaway region of […]

Welcome to Me

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 […]

Woman in Gold

Directed by Simon Curtis Produced by Kris Thykier Written by Alexi Kaye Campell Released by The Weinstein Company US/UK. 110 min. Rated PG-13 With Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Antje Traue, Elizabeth McGovern, Jonathan Pryce, Frances Fisher, Moritz Bleibtreu, Tom Schilling, Allan Corduner, and Henry Goodman […]