Jennifer's Body

There are few laughs and even fewer scares in Diablo Cody's followup to her smash hit Juno.

"...and a trite flashback structure that narrates the movie via Needy’s perpetual voiceover, Jennifer’s Body is hardly robust...."

Sept. 18, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

In the Loop

In the Loop is a scabrous and funny study of how an offhand remark by a career politician can metastasize into an international conflict and, ultimately, war.

"...by its very definition, involves the manipulation of others via a) dialogue and discourse or b) the rattling of..."

Aug. 14, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Brothers Bloom

Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo are cast as the best con men in the world whose current swindle involves an eccentric heiress (Rachel Weisz) in this sophomore effort by the writer/director of Brick.

"...wrong era, then the mood he’s conveyed here – via costume and art design, a jazzy retro score (by..."

May 29, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Terminator Salvation

Despite a couple of good action sequences, Terminator Salvation is loud, talky, and entirely lacking any sort of soul or sense of good old summer-matinee fun.

"...of post-nuclear industriousness, commanding a truly ragtag global resistance (via shortwave radio) against the self-aware machines of Skynet and..."

May 22, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Fighting

This film is set amid the world of underground street fighting where the plays bob and weave for love and respect.

"...competitive arena of New York City's full-contact fighting underground via strictly two-bit promoter Harvey Boarden (Howard, smooth as talc),..."

May 1, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Earth

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

"...plant life in various ecosystems around the world, oftentimes via time-lapse photography as gorgeous and surreal as anything you’d..."

April 24, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Transporter 3

Jason Statham returns for the third venture in this action series, which is surprisingly better than you might expect.

"...has become something of a poor man's James Bond via this international action smorgasbord franchise, and frankly, I'm all..."

Nov. 28, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

War, Inc.

John Cusack's War, Inc. rails against the military-industrial complex in a barely disguised contemporary story about covert operations.

"...steroidal fuckups-for-hire Blackwater USA to unhinged VP Dick Cheney (via Aykroyd), and throws paunchy pundit John McLaughlin into the..."

June 13, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Surfwise

This documentary is a revealing portrait of Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, the spiritual father of Israeli surf and the corporeal father of a nine-child surfing dynasty in California.

"...man.” It’s a light note to start on, but via extensive, eye-opening interviews with the now-adult Paskowitz kids, we..."

June 6, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Pevensie kids are summoned back to Narnia for yet another mystical adventure based on C.S. Lewis' series of fantasy books.

"...Blitz-era British lives turned into a literal fairy tale via lion, witch, and a wardrobe that would give Doctor..."

May 23, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Shine a Light

The Rolling Stones gather no moss in this Martin Scorsese-directed concert film that's playing on both IMAX and conventional screens.

"...soon-to-be 65-year-old frontman’s sheer physical specimen, and roller-coaster thrills via a 17-song set that starts with “Jumping Jack Flash”..."

April 4, 2008 Movie Review by Raoul Hernandez

Steep

The glories of extreme skiing are proclaimed from international mountaintops.

"...the obvious question (i.e., "Dude, what were you thinking?!") via interviews with extreme skiers past and present, several of..."

March 7, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2008

Another compilation of old and new animated spectacles guaranteed to rot your eyeballs.

"...those halcyon, pre-Web 2.0 days could only be discovered via the likes of Spike and Mike or lousy, 10th-generation..."

Feb. 8, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

This adventure fantasy about a boy's involvement with a mysterious animal is also a period story about childhood anxieties.

"...extremely – and unthreateningly, to younger members – well-designed, via CGI and more tactile effects work. Despite the title,..."

Dec. 21, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Alvin and the Chipmunks

What's it all about, Alvin? This by-the-numbers attempt at a chipmunk revival is not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"...vermin of Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and Jr. have arrived via CGI in this live-action update/companion to the Bagdasarian family's..."

Dec. 14, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

August Rush

August Rush is a rather prosaic, oddly anxious, contemporary take on Oliver Twist, with Robin Williams – in nasty-man twee mode – thrown in for bad measure.

"...promptly go their separate ways. Neither one realizes that, via a quick (if narratively convenient) switcheroo on the part..."

Nov. 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Hitman

Like the video game that inspired this film, Hitman is a brain-dead pleasure bomb.

"...of a less violent take on the assassination game via longtime editor Nicolas De Toth (Live Free or Die..."

Nov. 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Om Shanti Om

Via a tale of reincarnation, this new Bollywood movie offers a tribute to the Hindi spectacles of the Seventies.

"...and Shreyas Talpade. Not screened in advance for press. Via a tale of reincarnation, this new Bollywood movie offers..."

Nov. 9, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Last Legion

Although this story of ancient Rome offers guilty-pleasure fun, the film is not very inspired or well-conceived.

"...into the blood and thunder of a dying empire via an extremely skewed reimagining. The script is pulpy enough..."

Aug. 24, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Ratatouille

Pixar scores another triumph of animated wonder with this story of a rat who craves haute cuisine over garbage.

"...cuisine in the culinary capital of the world: Paris! Via some extremely clever narrative maneuvering on the part of..."

June 29, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Thank You, Central Time Zone: A Preview of the 2007 NFL Draft

"...a big stink out of a dead dude’s birthday via a jolly fat guy breaking and entering into a..."

April 26, 2007 Sports Post by Timothy Braun

TMNT

Back on the screen for the first time since the early Nineties, the Ninja Turtles are now animated via CGI, though their plot and character details got lost in the shuffle.

"...since the early Nineties, the turtles are now animated via CGI and no longer wearing their Jim Henson hard..."

March 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Arthur and the Invisibles

Live-action/animation hybrid from Luc Besson features a host of hip vocal talent but little more.

"...in his yard. He makes himself tiny as well, via some obscure magical process involving a telescope, a full..."

Jan. 19, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Adapted from Patrick Süskind's heretofore unadaptable cult novel about an olfactory vampire in 18th-century France, Perfume is a gorgeous but woefully overlong and ultimately misguided mess.

"...film that attempts to re-create Süskind's memorably overripe novel via the visual (and to a lesser degree, audio) nature..."

Jan. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Lunacy

Jan Svankmajer's creepy-crawl slowly becomes one of the most mordantly beautiful of the director's films, an asylum-set anti-love story with mobile body parts and splashy theatrics.

"...the more moist bits of human and animal anatomy via stop-motion animation. In his four-decade career, Svankmajer has explored..."

Sept. 15, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Half Nelson

Ryan Gosling's bleakly hopeful turn as crack-addicted teacher Dan in Half Nelson is matched only by the smoldering realism of newcomer Shareeka Epps.

"...Frank and Dan are already aware of each other via the back-alley drug trade, so when this idealistic teacher..."

Sept. 15, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Darna Zaroori Hai

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

"...of a bizarre old woman who jangles their nerves via the aforementioned yarns. (Imagine the first five minutes of..."

May 12, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

RV

Robin Williams loads his family into a camper and goes on vacation.

"...to pasture? There's precious little mirth to be had via RV after the comically nasty opening setup, during which..."

May 5, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Darwin's Nightmare

This delicately horrific yet artful documentary examines the destruction of Lake Victoria by the omnivorous Nile perch, and the dire consequences this causes the Tanzanian people.

"...presumed to help. The prognosis is beyond ghastly, moving via Sauper’s exhausting interviews with the local populace, workers, factory..."

Jan. 20, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

First Descent

This vertiginous documentary about snowboarding talks with the sport's greats and shows them in action, rocketing down crag-encrusted, virgin slopes like buckshot fired from God’s own 20-gauge.

"...back country of Alaska’s tallest and most inaccessible peaks via helicopter and then, one by one, rocket down the..."

Dec. 2, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

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