Category: GENRE

Amour [2012] ★★★½

What can you say about a film that is so vividly real, and so intense, that it holds you spellbound for two hours, without letup? “Amour” would be superior filmmaking under any circumstances. With rare subtlety and transforming art, the remarkable writer-director Michael Haneke takes us into the emotional heart […]

Hitchcock [2012] ★★★

What do you say about a movie that introduces the master of suspense as you’ve never seen him before, proves once again that Helen Mirren is one of the finest actresses alive and launches a charm assault that is damn near irresistible? I say, see it. Director Sacha Gervasi […]

Gangster Squad [2013] ★★½

Expectations are murder. With a dynamite cast (do Sean Penn and Josh Brolin ever fuck up?), and director Ruben Fleischer who inspired worship for “Zombieland”, you assume a new classic. What you get is an ambitious try.  Yet “Gangster Squad” pulls the magician’s trick of distraction, offering enough superficial entertainment value […]

Zero Dark Thirty [2012] ★★

Finally Hollywood has produced a movie that dramatizes the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Lol as if you didn’t see that coming. In a nutshell, “Zero Dark Thirty” is the most overrated movie of 2012. Overrated because it’s been nominated for a best picture Oscar and everyone is […]

Hyde Park On Hudson [2012] ★★½

Sometimes, a solid performance makes a movie worth watching. Case in point: Bill Murray, who portrays President Franklin D. Roosevelt in this charming little movie that takes place in the summer of 1939. The story focuses on Roosevelt’s distant cousin Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney) and her relationship with the President. Director […]

Django Unchained [2012] ★★★½

Like a crazy motherfucker, Quentin Tarantino lets all his obsessions hang out in “Django Unchained”. Some people may want to kill him for it, but if you’re down with that, head off to the “historically inaccurate” “Django” which should have been called “The Good, the Bad and the Slave” […]

Lincoln [2012]

I sometimes recoil when people start spreading Oscar buzz about a movie I haven’t seen. Yet I’m willing to forgive this year’s campaign for “Lincoln” because it’s such a terrific movie. At first glance, it sounds like another history lesson about the last four months in the life of […]

This Is 40 [2012] ★★★

If you want to hate on Judd Apatow’s “This is 40” then go ahead. But get ready to be drowned out by the sound of laughter from the rest of us. Yes I laughed. Then I laughed some more. I’ll admit there’s something sitcom-trite about the setup. Pete (Paul Rudd) […]

Stand Up Guys [2012] ★½

Excuse my sarcasm but why in hell do Studios always choose January to bury their misfires? They must think we won’t notice, distracted by award season and all. But we do, especially when it’s a film starring legendary actors Al Pacino and Christopher Walken. I’m talking about “Stand […]

The Possession [2012] ★★

“The Possession” was one of the better horror movies released in 2012, but that’s not saying much. I’m a huge fan of Producer Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” films, but his latest attempt feels awfully repetitive and corny. The plot is pretty basic fare:  Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a divorced […]