Recent Film Reviews

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Monday, October 5 2009

October Country

By Cynthia Fuchs

October Country focuses on the Mosher family to explore the many ways that patterns shape lives and expectations.

Friday, October 2 2009

Zombieland

By Cynthia Fuchs

Zombieland does well enough in its early minutes, then picks up a little unexpected speed when Columbus meets another "noncannibal survivor" (played by a perfect Woody Harrelson).

Whip It

By Cynthia Fuchs

What Whip It does make clear is that all girls are expected to perform, whether expectations are embodied by parents or audiences.

The Invention of Lying

By Cynthia Fuchs

The Invention of Lying's conventionally gendered division of rom-com labor is not exactly ameliorated by Mark's good intentions.

Tuesday, September 29 2009

The Horse Boy

By Cynthia Fuchs

Following Rupert Isaacson's best-selling book, also called The Horse Boy, the movie delivers his family's adventure in Mongolia with a syrupy guitar soundtrack, as well as traveloguey maps and explanations.

Monday, September 28 2009

Surrogates

By Jesse Hassenger

Most of the movie's philosophizing is boilerplate, about the distancing effects of plugging in. But its unpretentious earnestness gives Surrogates a mild kick.

Friday, September 25 2009

Fame

By Todd R. Ramlow

The real struggle faced by kids in today's Fame is how to negotiate cultural demands for sexual morality and conservatism while maintaining outsized sexual personas in public.

Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel)

By Cynthia Fuchs

Coco Before Chanel cannot get out from under the romantic fabrications and excesses that ostensibly annoyed its subject.

Bright Star

By Renee Scolaro Mora

Director Jane Campion does complicate the issue of sexuality in Bright Star, with Fanny more sexually assertive than John Keats.

Wednesday, September 23 2009

Capitalism: A Love Story

By Todd R. Ramlow

In Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore is on target in his indictment of the top 1% of the population, those who own or control 95% of U.S. wealth.

Friday, September 18 2009

The Informant!

By Todd R. Ramlow

The Informant! recalls the excuses made by numerous underlings of authoritarian institutions over the course of the past century who have justified their exploitative practices by claiming they were just following orders.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

By Lesley Smith

While the plotting runs on autopilot, with a few parent-friendly references to disaster movies of the past, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs also taps repeatedly into appealingly childish fantasies.

Jennifer’s Body

By Tricia Olszewski

Jennifer's Body offers gore, but not a high body count, and cheap scares are rare.

Friday, September 11 2009

Heart of Stone

By Cynthia Fuchs

In the olden days, long before Principal Stone's arrival, reports Beth Toni Kruvant's documentary, Weequahic High Scool was indeed a kind of beacon.

Whiteout

By Renee Scolaro Mora

Whiteout is full of problems: most strikingly, it fails visually, as no tension is wrought from the titular event's poor visibility.

Thursday, September 10 2009

It Might Get Loud

By Chris Barsanti

The structure ambles, providing long set-up segments with each of the three musicians in their home spaces, messing with their guitars, chatting about tradecraft.

Wednesday, September 9 2009

9

By Chris Barsanti

9 is a grey and grim thrill ride packed full of kiddie morality lessons and creepy frightenings, as though Steven Spielberg had induced the Brothers Quay to create a summer blockbuster.

Friday, September 4 2009

Extract

By Cynthia Fuchs

In Extract, Joel learns a frankly banal lesson with help from Cindy, who can't imagine holding down a real job and incarnates all that is ersatz.

All About Steve

By Lesley Smith

All About Steve achieves only one success, in its illustration of the plight of the talented comedienne in Hollywood today.

Wednesday, September 2 2009

American Casino

By Cynthia Fuchs

American Casino opens with a question: "The U.S. government has pledged over $12 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers to bail out Wall Street. Most people would like to know why."

Monday, August 31 2009

We Live in Public

By Cynthia Fuchs

It's appropriate that We Live in Public is caught up in its own circle of consumption and regurgitation.

Friday, August 28 2009

Taking Woodstock

By Cynthia Fuchs

The Ang Lee take on Woodstock never gets much beyond these clichés: hippies took drugs, rain made mud, the music was great and crowds were huge.

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