Earth

This nature film is derived from the Planet Earth miniseries and is edited with an eye toward the kid-friendly audience.

"...provides a snapshot of animal and plant life in various ecosystems around the world, oftentimes via time-lapse photography as..."

April 24, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Crossing Over

Various characters who are ensnared within the dogged machinery of the American immigration system become the subjects of this multistrand narrative.

"...Alice Braga, Summer Bishil and Justin Chon. Characters of various nationalities, all ensnared within the incongruous machinery of the..."

March 27, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Religulous

Bill Maher walks with the angels in this documentary, which he uses as his pulpit to proselytize the gospel of doubt.

"...faith. Maher hosts this globe-hopping whirlwind of interviews with various representatives of the Western religious faiths of Christianity, Judaism,..."

Oct. 3, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Stealing America: Vote by Vote

This documentary account of Election Day 2004 thinks it has the answer: conspiracy and treason, Republican-style.

"...with journalists, election officials, disenchanted voters, and politicos of various ideological stripes, Fadiman lays out a timeline of that..."

Sept. 19, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Take

Take, with a very good performance by Minnie Driver, is a dreadfully misguided movie whose story of redemption is utterly irredeemable.

"...music score that vacillates between the diddly and portentous. Various story strands lead the viewer down purposeless avenues, as..."

Aug. 15, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Caramel

The denizens of a beauty parlor in Beirut depend on one another for friendship and support in this lovely Lebanese film.

"...next door) help and support one another through their various yet typical female troubles. Layale (Labaki), who owns the..."

Feb. 22, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Sharkwater

Rob Stewart, a marine biologist and underwater photographer, makes up for in passion what he lacks in narrative subtlety in this cautionary documentary about the eradication of the planet's sharks.

"...film leaves the viewer a simmering rage against the various governments (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Taiwan) that have allowed a..."

Feb. 1, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

Lloyd Kaufman's Poultrygeist is a campy zombie comedy that's full of jokes, chicken suits, spewing geysers of various bodily fluids, and barbs flung in the direction of the fast-food industry.

"...patrons. The plot steadily degenerates as spewing geysers of various bodily fluids overtake center stage. Pauses for musical interludes..."

Dec. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Martian Child

Only in Hollywood can a movie about alien children be boring, although the terrific performances of John Cusack and Bobby Coleman help redeem this predictable mush.

"...attend school, and generally be “normal” all lead to various contrived hijinks, Cusack’s genuine talent evokes a few smiles..."

Nov. 2, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

December Boys

In his first film role post-Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe plays an orphan in Australia who's pals with a bunch of other boys born in December.

"...nautical-mad husband and wife (Thompson and McQuade) and the various side characters who make up a tiny, overly dotty..."

Sept. 28, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Captivity

Captivity, wherein 24's Elisha Cuthbert is abducted and tortured, is the kind of film that gives torture porn a bad name; it's just soulless, hateful, and freakishly monotonous.

"...supermodel abducted by an unseen maniac and subjected to various forms of mental and physical torture while Gillies, on..."

July 20, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Waitress

Despite a storyline that involves an unplanned pregnancy, various affairs, spousal abuse, maternal ambivalence, and food-service employment, Waitress is an optimistic comedy about getting past your mistakes and making the best of life.

"...do – despite a storyline about an unplanned pregnancy, various affairs, spousal abuse, maternal ambivalence, and food-service employment. It..."

May 11, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

The TV Set

David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver star in this dyspeptic drama about the work of creating television shows.

"...some of the pain he must have felt at various times during his television work, Kasdan ensures that it’s..."

May 4, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

The Condemned

Steve Austin stars in this WWE-produced movie about a death row convict who is brought to a remote island to fight nine other killers to the death for a televised bout.

"...Thirty hours. Twenty ounces of plastic explosives strapped to various legs. Two screenwriters. One retired wrestler (Austin, no longer..."

April 27, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

First Snow

A moody thriller that tries to thumb its nose at fatalism, First Snow features another great performance from Guy Pearce.

"...unspecific as to the past events, as well as various character details. I think this was a conscious choice..."

April 20, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Last Mimzy

Solid performances elevate this mild but hardly magical children's sci-fi story.

"...references to homeland security and the PATRIOT Act and various New Age-y beliefs. Nevertheless, the plot raises more questions..."

March 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Dead Girl

The filmmaker and an all-star cast create this somber murder mystery that has little mystery but is filled with a deep foreboding about the anguish that dominates some women's lives.

"...episodes, each one focusing on how the murder affects various female characters, whose relationships to the dead girl are..."

Feb. 9, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Saw III

The director of Saw II is back for more of this vicious-minded series in which the psychopathic Jigsaw toys with his victims' last gasps.

"...kidnapped and placed throughout an abandoned warehouse, nestled inside various and sundry hyperelaborate torture devices. Blood, gore, and viscera..."

Nov. 3, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Prestige

Two rival magicians are locked in a lifelong quest for supremacy, which leads them down a slippery slope of hairpin twists and triple-turns in this Christopher Nolan movie.

"...other. Nolan is more regimented than ever – the various hairpin twists and triple-turns in the the story demand..."

Oct. 27, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies

This film captures a fair amount of this band's electric charge and documents its 2004 reunion tour.

"...in a wave of surfy self-mutilation, mutual enmity, and various and sundry substances. It was fun while it lasted,..."

Oct. 27, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

A/k/a Tommy Chong

Chong cuts a hugely sympathetic figure in the story of his legal troubles after Operation Pipe Dreams, an anti-paraphernalia sweep that specifically targeted his bong business.

"...hit Somerset County, Pa. – Buchanan's jurisdiction. Schlosser and various commentators (Jay Leno, Bill Maher, legendary stoner Peter Coyote)..."

Sept. 22, 2006 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads

Austinite Hector Galán’s reverential look at Grammy-winning "Texican" rockers Los Lonely Boys is a document of persistence, passion, and some of the finest rock & roll since Stevie Ray Vaughan’s untimely exit.

"...Galán’s reverential look at the band, the culture, and various and sundry pit stops along the way to securing..."

Aug. 11, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Little Man

If you can accept the very idea of Shawn Wayans’ face on the body of an infantilized baby-man in diapers, who’s to care about the quality of anything else in the movie?

"...Schneider (playing a schlub in a Barney-esque suit), and various dads get hit in the crotch again and again...."

July 21, 2006 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Fall to Grace

Shot in Austin with a mostly local cast and buoyed by a fine, evocative score, Fall to Grace is a quiet little ensemble film that pulses with its own unique heartbeat.

"...a flow chart to keep track of all the various characters and their twining relationships in this debut feature..."

June 16, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

District B13

Set in the near-future of 2010, this French import is not big on plot exposition, instead focusing on its finely wrought action momentum, which moves ever forward with rushing exhilaration.

"...across buildings and rooftops, through transoms, and over the various concrete impediments of the urban jungle. (Belle's athletic talent..."

June 2, 2006 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Darna Zaroori Hai

Unusual Bollywood film is an anthology horror film with segments directed by seven different directors.

"...Rajpal Yadav, Makrand Deshpande and Bipasha Basu. Unlike the various Asian film industries, India's all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood isn't known..."

May 12, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Poseidon

A handful of talented actors checked their egos at the door in hopes of … something, but this Poseidon is a wash.

"...giant rogue wave that capsizes the gargantuan pleasure-craft Poseidon, various and sundry explosions, waterlogged corpses bob-bob-bobbin' along – is..."

May 12, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Hostel

In this horror film, three backpackers check in to the wrong hostel where, unbeknownst to them, very bad things happen from dusk till dawn.

"...over at the Alamo Drafthouse, peppers the proceedings with various witty in-jokes, including a sex scene set to the..."

Jan. 13, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Yours, Mine & Ours

This supersized family comedy makes The Brady Bunch look like an example of prudent family planning and sophisticated humor.

"...falls and scrapes, while the kids all unite in various schemes to break their parents apart. Director Gosnell, who..."

Nov. 25, 2005 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Cry Wolf

A tech-centric but bloodless teen horror thriller that works best as a stinging critique of post-adolescent whininess.

"...while Cry_Wolf’s canny focus on the Internet and its various technological offspring as a metaphor for the emotionally denuded..."

Sept. 23, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

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