A Wrinkle in Time

Ava DuVernay's adaptation of the children's classic rarely soars.

"...As a child reader of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, muddling..."

March 9, 2018 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

2018 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Live Action

Compassion, grace, and humor distinguish the Oscar hopefuls

"...own right. On a slightly calmer note, "The Silent Child" earnestly pleads for sign-language support for deaf children in..."

Feb. 9, 2018 Movie Review by Steve Davis

War for the Planet of the Apes

The capstone of the Apes reboot sticks the landing

"...raids results in the death of Caesar’s wife and child, the formerly peace-seeking chimpanzee sets out to avenge their..."

July 14, 2017 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Meddler

A terrific vehicle for Susan Sarandon as a meddlesome mom

"...Los Angeles to be near her chronically depressed only child Lori (Byrne), a relatively successful television writer struggling to..."

May 13, 2016 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Norm of the North

Animated bear protects his Arctic home

"...animated bear fix right this very minute? A whining child who won’t take no for an answer is the..."

Jan. 22, 2016 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Maps to the Stars

David Cronenberg's film, with a script by Bruce Wagner, is a darkly humorous moral fable aimed at Hollywood.

"...of Greek tragedy, dealing in incest, ghosts, and devastating family secrets. It should be noted that Maps to the..."

Feb. 27, 2015 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

Boyhood

With Boyhood, filmmaker Richard Linklater paints his masterpiece.

"...shape who we are, and who we will become. Childhood is particularly rife with these developmental moments, but the..."

July 18, 2014 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Food Issue Extra Helpings: Picking

What could possibly be the reason for the way I eat?

"...has been shaped by my experiences as an only child, growing up in a world of Eurocentric adults whose..."

Feb. 19, 2014 Food Post by Jordan Gass-Pooré

About Time

Love Actually maestro wants to make you cry with this romantic dramedy.

"...backward – but never forward – in time. The family is rounded out by a sensible, unsentimental mom (Duncan)..."

Nov. 1, 2013 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Hunt

Mads Mikkelsen stars in this Danish film by Thomas Vinterberg as a man whose enitre life is undone by a little girl's lie.

"...becomes undone by an idle lie told by a child and a community that rushes to judgment. This Danish..."

July 26, 2013 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

HBO Premiered 'Mary and Martha' in Time for World Malaria Day

Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn star

"...on holiday to Africa suffers the loss of her child to an entirely preventable disease – malaria. This is..."

April 22, 2013 Screens Post by Jessi Cape

Starbuck

A sperm donor learns 20 years after the fact that he is the father of 533 children in this mild, French-Canadian comedy.

"...about his unreliability, it’s clear they still love this man-child despite his practical shortcomings. David is $80,000 in debt..."

April 19, 2013 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Boy

Set on the eastern New Zealand coast in 1984, Boy is a wisp of a story, but originally told by the director of Eagle vs Shark.

"...with his father, who has the enthusiasms of a child and smokes lots of weed, is the crux of..."

April 6, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick's latest film bursts with unbridled ambition and vision, and while it doesn't always reach the heights for which it aims, it soars boldly and fearlessly.

"...middle section, which offers us glimpses of the O’Brien family in 1950s Waco, Texas. Pitt and Chastain are Mr...."

June 3, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Vincere

The long-scuttled tragic story of Ida Dalser, the first wife of Benito Mussolini, and the child she bore him, is brought to the screen with arresting style by the Italian director Marco Bellocchio.

"...Dalser, the first wife of Benito Mussolini, and their child, Benito Albino (Mussolini’s first-born), is brought to the screen..."

April 23, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Up

Pixar tops itself with its new animated film that offers so much more than its promotional promise of a fantastical movie about a house that flies on balloon power.

"...Inc. look positively antic, Toy Story seem like mere child’s play, and WALL-E appear as sentimental fluff. Up advances..."

May 29, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Happy-Go-Lucky

British director Mike Leigh's latest is an uncharacteristic story about an indomitably joyful woman – a lovely state of being, perhaps, but not necessarily of dramatic interest.

"...doctor’s office. Not even an encounter with an abused child is enough to stop her from laughing, and that's..."

Oct. 31, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Step Brothers

Will Ferrell's newest is a lot like Will Ferrell's oldest, which is to say it feels like an amped-up Saturday Night Live skit.

"...affecting Stranger Than Fiction have expanded on his clueless man-child schtick much in the mold of former SNL cohort..."

July 25, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Meet Bill

Aaron Eckhart stars in this middle-aged wake-up call whose message – trust yourself and find your inner child – is tired but expressed with a whole lot of enthusiasm.

"...to do anything to keep his job at the family bank, pride be damned. And to everyone else, he..."

May 2, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth catapults Guillermo del Toro to the top ranks of international filmmakers: His dark and fertile imagination appears to have no limit.

"...its citizens are submission or covert resistance. For a child – a being who, by definition, is powerless and..."

Jan. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Bad Medicine?

No Child Left Behind prescribed for Austin schools – although the cure may be worse than the illness

"...Northeast) to Anderson, just off of Steck and Mesa – a choice made available under the provisions of the..."

Sept. 30, 2005 News Feature by Rachel Proctor May

Mysterious Skin

With this disturbing story about the lingering affects of child sexual abuse, Gregg Araki creates a film that is psychologically rich, emotionally haunting, and technically superior to anything he has ever done.

"...Scott Heim, the movie explores the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. The focus of the film is not..."

July 1, 2005 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Les Choristes

A box-office smash in its native France, this kindly and spirited film doesn’t exactly break the mold of the heartwarming, humanistic boarding-school dramedy.

"...Fond de L’etang, the kind of school "for troubled children" whose instructors chase short-pantsed ragamuffins through mahogany-paneled stairwells, shouting,..."

May 20, 2005 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

In the Realms of the Unreal

The strange artwork and life of primitivist Harry Darger is given dimension by master documentarist Jessica Yu.

"...1996 Academy Awards. Darger’s opus depicts a war between child slaves and their oppressors – all adult men who..."

Feb. 11, 2005 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Thérèse: The Story of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Saints alive! To each her own biopic.

"...of the sympathetically inclined. The narrative of the French child who joined the Carmelites at the age of 15..."

Nov. 5, 2004 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Forgotten

Julianne Moore is out of her mind with grief – or is she just out of her mind?

"...heroines who is determined to get back her missing child. At the beginning of the movie we see her..."

Sept. 24, 2004 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Freddy vs. Jason

Did anyone realize Camp Crystal Lake is right down the highway from Elm Street?

"...Walks Among the Rows" doesn’t show up to menace children in the corn. Per usual, the cast is working..."

Aug. 15, 2003 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Capturing the Friedmans

"...– and, furthermore, how do we explain all the children who react with fright rather than laughter to the..."

June 27, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Baby Boy

"...in this psychological character study. Jody is the 20-year-old man-child at the center of this story. He lives with..."

June 29, 2001 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

"...knew things were bad when I felt my inner child go out to the lobby to monopolize the Ms...."

June 15, 2001 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

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