Kate WilliamsReviews
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5This series proved that action-filled entertainment and demanding, intelligent storytelling are not mutually exclusive. [31 July 2009]
Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second SeasonBelief in your ability to make-believe is required when viewing this wonderfully inventive, singularly distinctive and thoroughly enjoyable show. [22 July 2009]
Jesus’ SonThis is more a collection of well-observed moments and vignettes than a conventionally plotted chronicle. [14 July 2009]
The Seventh SealThis film was lauded for its tough and uncompromising cerebral vision, its stark visual style, and the knowing defiance of its inherent seriousness. [22 June 2009]
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0This show has undeniably advanced and changed the landscape of dramatic television. [26 January 2009]
TraficThis excellent film is concerned with the genius, inspiration, contradictions, joys, limits, power and effects of modern industrialization on human society. [1 August 2008]
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 DaysA masterpiece of modern cinema that deserves not only to be watched and appreciated, but also studied for years to come. [14 July 2008]
Looking for CheyenneA small, charming, and refreshing film about love, politics, and the whole wide world of mess in between. [4 June 2008]
Starting Out in the EveningA smart film that is ultimately undone by the director’s preening and self-conscious style. [19 May 2008]
White ManeThe blending of the natural with the fantastical is truly remarkable and elevates this film from simple child’s play to high art. [5 May 2008]
The SavagesSometimes the simplest stories about the most ordinary of people can be the most engaging, rewarding and entertaining. [22 April 2008]
MafiosoDrawing on the timeless and well-worn cultural chasm between Italy’s great and "sophisticated" North and its interminably provincial and "backwards" South, Lattuada takes full advantage of the dark humor and cruel realities that can be extracted from such prejudices. [25 March 2008]
The ApartmentA cautionary tale about business, fidelity and ethics that is skillfully wrapped under the guise of light entertainment. [13 February 2008]
Caterina in the Big City (Caterina va in città)With precision and humor, Virzi casts a critical eye on the highly stratified cliques established in youth and mirrored in the self-serving interests of the cultural and political elite. [1 February 2008]
WaitressWaitress reveals Adrienne Shelly's talent and promise as a unique, curious, and refreshingly lo-fi voice in the American independent film landscape. [27 November 2007]
My So-Called Life: The Complete SeriesUnrequited love, the all consuming crush, the exasperated horror of hormonal changes, the tedium of school, trouble with parents, the emergence of individual identity . . . the adolescent struggle and all of its attendant rites, rituals, and humiliations are ever present in the storytelling of My So-Called Life. [9 November 2007]
Black Book (Zwartboek)While the film begins with the familiar tagline of “Inspired by true events” Black Book is best approached through the lens of the classic pulp thriller. [22 October 2007]
House, M.D. - Season ThreeThrough clever writing, first rate acting, and an unrelenting subversive humor House, M.D. remains one of the finest hours on network television. [24 August 2007]
Driving LessonsHarry Potter's Rupert Grint steps out of Hogwarts quietly, as if on tiptoe. [23 August 2007]
Cinema, Aspirins and VulturesCinema, Aspirins, and Vultures is a casually ruminative film that radiates with all of the uncertainties that face us on the road of life. [3 August 2007]
With God on Our Side: George W. Bush and the Rise of the Religious Right in AmericaA well-studied and unbiased report on the powerful union of politics and conservative religion. [8 June 2007]
The Italian (2005)The Italian is an appealing cinematic fairytale tempered by the harsh and chilling realities of international adoption. [24 May 2007]
Woman Is the Future of Man (2004)With a visual style that borders on the austere, Hong Sang-soo is a mannered, lyrical, and (at times) intellectually stimulating filmmaker. [10 April 2007]
Volver (2006)In Almodóvar’s world, women are the unmistakable, undeniable and indelible colors of life -- they are the red splashed across the harsh grey landscape. [2 April 2007]
49 Up (2007)Through the gentle observation and simple exploration of life’s quotidian nature, the Up Series achieves a dramatic relevancy that simple fiction or melodrama could never equal. [20 March 2007]
La Vie Promise (2002)Despite Huppert’s commendable performance this film sinks under the weight of derivative characters, contrived and overly convenient plot points, and simplistic themes. [8 March 2007]
La Moustache (2005)is is not a paranoid fantasy thinly cloaked in science fiction, but rather a mature and immensely interesting examination on the nature of identity, love, and self. [31 January 2007]
The Street - The Complete First SeasonWhat distinguishes The Street from the vast majority of shows on television today is its quiet attention to naturalistic, fully textured, and thoroughly complicated characters. [24 January 2007]
Otomo (2000)A stark and compelling piece of cinema that just narrowly fails to succeed. [18 January 2007]
Quinceañera (2005)Much like a well-meaning but bewildered child stuck in the awkward years between childhood and adolescence, Quinceañera is too unsure of its self to be assertive and, thus, lacks an identity (good or bad). [17 January 2007]
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)Little Miss Sunshine is that rare comedic film that earns its laughs through textured characterizations and authentic, humanizing contradictions. [8 January 2007]
Brothers of the Head (2005)This film is laden with creative possibilities, yet suffers from a surfeit of cinematic and artistic clichés. [11 December 2006]
One More Dead Fish (2005)This documentary's portraits of Nova Scotia fishermen show that the tentacles of corporate power may reach far into our daily lives, but it is still within our power to raise our voices and affect change. [19 November 2006]
A Heart in Winter (1993)Neglected for too long by North American audiences, Un Coeur en Hiver is a subtle, intelligent, and provocative piece of cinema that should not be overlooked. [15 November 2006]
Battle of The Brave (2004)Enduring this battle requires tremendous . . . endurance. [8 November 2006]
Gloomy Sunday (2000)Unable to fully harness the power of its melancholic music, Gloomy Sunday remains more a (satisfying) pop piece than a transcendent, movie-going experience. [3 November 2006] BlogsConsuming Consumables: House, M.D. - Season Three [$59.98] [2 December 2007]Consuming Consumables: My So-Called Life: The Complete Series [$69.99] [30 November 2007] |
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