Fantastic Fest Review: Climax

Gaspar Noé gets sticky on the dance floor

"...with absolute dread. Opening with a spectacular dance number, Climax yearns to take you on a journey filled with..."

Sept. 28, 2018 Screens Post by Jenny Nulf

Climax

Gaspar Noé's acid freakout dance-a-thon teaches us that drugs are bad, m'kay

"...six-hour mark of Gaspar Noé's 96-minute drug freakout fable Climax...."

March 1, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Round Rock ISD Drama Nears Climax

TEA superintendent investigation results to be revealed this week

Feb. 11, 2022 News Feature by Morgan O’Hanlon

Seasons Coming to a Climax

April 9, 2008 Sports Post by Nick Barbaro

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Cate Blanchett steals away with what’s left of her dreams in Linklater’s coming-of-middle-age comedy

"...Events throughout the first half converge toward a comical climax that draws to a close when Bernadette self-ejects out..."

Aug. 16, 2019 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Wonderstruck

Two lives intertwine across time in the latest from Todd Haynes

"...set 50 years apart, are intercut until the film’s climax reveals (for anyone who hasn’t already figured it out)..."

Nov. 3, 2017 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Unforgettable

Another round of a psycho ex from hell

"...does the suspense-building no favors. By opening near the climax then jogging back to six months prior, the story..."

April 21, 2017 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Birth of a Nation

Controversial slave uprising epic finally hits theatres

"...anger and then full-on insurrection. The build-up to the climax is dramatically uneven. Turner’s rebellion lasted only 48 hours,..."

Oct. 7, 2016 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Dheepan

Cannes Palme d'Or winner about Tamil refugees in France

"...sentimentalizes the characters’ situation. And despite the film’s misguided climax, Audiard again demonstrates that he is one of the..."

June 24, 2016 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Big Stone Gap

An Appalachian "spinster" learns the truth about her past

"...production. Can-do can’t cut it here, especially with a climax so hokey it retroactively erases all the stolen moments..."

Oct. 16, 2015 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Ex Machina

Smart, sinister sci-fi film about human error and techno-terror

"...Ex Machina, catches the same high fever around its climax, but what comes before is a cold-sweated chamber piece..."

April 17, 2015 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Katniss Everdeen goes from Hunger Games victor to emblem of the revolution

"...easy-peasy.) But filmmakers were wise to hang Part I’s climax on a military mission that takes place offstage in..."

Nov. 21, 2014 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Green Prince

The son of a Hamas leader becomes an Israeli spy and searches for a moral center.

"...There is no grand climax, only the increasingly complex moral swamp that surrounds viewers...."

Oct. 24, 2014 Movie Review by Louis Black

The Giver

This movie based on a Newbery Award-winning novel presents teens in a dystopic society that's a manmade invention born of good intentions.

"...as the story develops and pushes toward a wobbly climax and conclusion. And what to make of that sled,..."

Aug. 15, 2014 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Legend of Hercules

Kellan Lutz muscles his way into classical mythology.

"...end of this film was truly shocking. Not the climax, which was as dull and unimaginative as the rest..."

Jan. 17, 2014 Movie Review by Louis Black

Escape Plan

Stallone and Schwarzenegger team up for double the fun.

"...how unsurprising it really is, especially regarding its tired climax...."

Oct. 25, 2013 Movie Review by Louis Black

Star Trek Into Darkness

The Star Trek reboot may be overly familiar, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.

"...really no fat here until the film feints a climax only to lurch the coaster-car back up the hill..."

May 17, 2013 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Somebody Up There Likes Me

Bob Byington's filmed-in-Austin, indie comedy takes place over decades as a guy wanders through life with (scene-stealing) coaching from his best friend, played by Nick Offerman.

"...Me, characters get married, divorced, and die. There's no climax, just a bunch of people waiting around. The title,..."

April 5, 2013 Movie Review by Leah Churner

That's My Boy

Casting Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg as father and son is a stroke of inspiration, but there's nothing else cute about this comedy.

"...a picture of an old woman. The film’s narrative climax proves to be even more twisted...."

June 22, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Chronicle

Like a marriage of Cloverfield and Carrie, Chronicle blends faux-naif techniques with a teen telekinesis plot and gets fresh results.

"...participant. Chronicle may go over the top with its climax, but for such a giddy film, it’s remarkably down..."

Feb. 3, 2012 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

This generally appealing romantic comedy is occasionally ungainly, but its sensational cast breezily flicks away most distractions.

"...(Tangled) can explain the film’s awkward punctuation. The goopy climax at a junior-high graduation ceremony threatens to undo much..."

July 29, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Art of Getting By

As coming-of-age dramas go, this one is flaccid and endlessly irksome.

"...By is an inflection-free film, right down to the climax that’s keyed to the drone of an early Pavement..."

June 17, 2011 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Arthur

The bubbles have gone out of Russell Brand's remake of the 30-year-old original.

"...gets pretty goopy as it paces toward its predictable climax. Arthur overextends its welcome and relies too much on..."

April 8, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Little Fockers

Surely we're not the only ones Fockered out as this franchise aims for low-brow smut in its third outing.

"...“GodFocker.” The twins’ birthday party provides the film’s extended climax, but its lackluster highlights include grown men fighting in..."

Dec. 24, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Town

Ben Affleck directs, co-writes, and stars in this gripping action-drama about bank robbers.

"...of the film embraces that moral ambiguity, but the climax – a well-staged series of calamities – and its..."

Sept. 17, 2010 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Police, Adjective

This Romanian police procedural is a fascinating study of the meaning of language in everyday life.

"...story, not a documentary on linguistics, though its exciting climax – I kid you not – consists of dictionary..."

Feb. 26, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Revanche

Austria’s nominee last year for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a taut yet unpredictable psychological thriller that deserves wide appreciation outside its homeland.

"...subtle, gnawing things rather than any sort of bang-bang climax. Characters are intimately observed; their actions frequently say volumes..."

Oct. 9, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Foot Fist Way

Faux documentary about a strip-mall kung-fu sensei without the sense to come in out of the pain has moments of laugh-out-loud greatness but also much dopiness.

"...the time Foot Fist limps to its ultimate fighting climax, you'll likely wish you had double-teamed Game of Death..."

June 6, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Sex and Death 101

This serial-killer comedy, which screened during Fantastic Fest, is a self-indulgent, snarky, scattershot affair.

"...his ability to drive women to distraction, to its climax, which features a humbled Blank’s run-in with the mysterious..."

April 11, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Badland

Badland is a well-meaning but pointlessly overblown drama about an American vet with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"...you think the film has crescendoed at the predictable climax, then you’ll be caught even more off-guard by the..."

Feb. 29, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

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