Backcountry is a well-acted film with a familiar premis
Foxcatcher chronicles the tragic partnership of multi-m
Hell hath no fury like a fairy whose wings have been
For a bit, Saving Mr. Banks offers a look at artistic integrity in battle with the Hollywood machine. Around 1961, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), author of the beloved Mary Poppins, begins to see her income dwindle. The books have stopped selling, she has not written another installment, and the royalties have ceased. Here, she is faced with […]
As he does in Shame and Hunger, Steve McQueen pulls no punches in 12 Years a Slave, which is one of the reasons it is the most important movie to see this year. Based Solomon Northup’s autobiography of the same name, McQueen’s film goes beyond relaying horrific nature of slavery and the dangers of righteousness – though […]
Beautiful and sensual, Blue is the Warmest Color explores the various complexities of contemporary relationships.
After Tiller is nearly as difficult to watch as it is to write about. This 2013 documentary begins with the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, one of only four known doctors who would legally perform third-trimester abortions. Tiller, whose office has previously been the target of bombings, has previously been shot in the arm, and was ultimately […]
In the last year, we’ve been privy to films starring past-their-prime legends. Films like Stand Up Guys, Last Vegas, and the upcoming Grudge Match draw thirty to sixtysomethings with nostalgic remembrances of what the actors once could do and make them feel on screen before the central gimmick of each film centered on the actors’ ages. The […]
If Blue Valentine and Antichrist had a child, The Broken Circle Breakdown would be it – without the clitorectomy and preternatural, talking fox of course. Regardless, this Belgian progeny investigates the various impacts parents experience after losing a child. Early on, we meet the adorable Maybelle and her parents, Elise (Veerle Baetens) and Didier (Johan Heldenbergh). Diagnosed […]
Frozen is the tale of two sisters, Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel). Princesses of Arendelle, they are as close as sisters can be in their youth, until Elsa’s powers to create snow and ice accidentally wound Anna while they play in the castle one day. Fearing the end of Anna, her parents take her to […]
Narco Cultura is a disturbing expose on both Narco culture and the rise of the Narco Corrido, popular songs that glamorize the drug culture and cartels that run rampant through Juarez and other parts of Mexico. With roughly 10,000 homicides over the last four years, Juarez is one of the most dangerous places in the world. Ironically, […]
Possibly the most self-aware film of the year.
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s most recent collaboration, The Worlds End, is much like their previous collaborations in that it elucidates a seemingly endemic fear of monotony. Shaun of the Dead limned this with slow, staggering, brain-hungry zombies; Hot Fuzz saw a town consumed by a perfection-driven cult. In The World’s End, we watch the sleepy town […]
