Top Ten Films: 2012

It’s Oscar time! As usual, the Academy Awards are poised to make some very wrong decisions this year. So as usual, I am prematurely correcting them by releasing my Top Ten of the year. That year is 2012, of course — real film critics release such lists at the end of December or beginning of […]

‘Django’ Fuck Yourself: Oscar’s Also-Rans

Well, I finally saw Django Unchained, and where to begin? I avoided it for quite some time because it seemed most everyone had already seen it, and a Tarantino film is not a thing I like to embark on alone. For one, I’d heard about the over-the-top violence, which seemed like a thing best taken […]

Dancing On My Own: A ‘Girl’ & A Creep Mash Up Manhattan

As usual in the midst of awards season, my cinematic viewings lately have been pretty heavy. And now it’s time for something completely different. Girl Walk // All Day is one of my favorite films I’ve seen lately, except that I’m not sure it’s a film at all. It used to be that movies came […]

‘Cosmopolis’: Not An Aphrodisiac

If you’re a happy, well-adjusted person, never go on a date with me. Just don’t. I don’t mean because I, myself, am such a morose individual — I’m not. But my cinematic picks can be real downers. I can’t help it! I like heavy-hitting dramas, acting tour-de-forces. I like walking out of a theater feeling […]

In What World Is ‘Argo’ A Better Movie Than ‘Zero Dark Thirty’?

In what world is Argo a better movie than Zero Dark Thirty? This isn’t a response to Ben Affleck’s Golden Globes win for Best Director and Argo’s triumph as Best Drama. The Globes are the Globes, and they can only be taken so seriously. Avatar, The Descendants, Babel, and plenty of other films have proven […]

Broken Lovers: ‘The Sessions,’ ‘Amour,’ & ‘Rust And Bone’

It’s that time. Every year there are so many movies released in the latter months, fighting it out for our attention as Oscar frontrunners. Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo… to name just a few. And then there are those the average moviegoer likely hasn’t even heard of. Yet.

Swept Away: ‘The Impossible’

(Originally posted on JustinPlusSix on November 8.) Well, it’s been a hell of a week. In the time since I wrote my review of Cloud Atlas last week, we’ve had Hurricane Sandy, Halloween, and we re-elected Barack Obama. (I know Sandy was technically more than a week ago, but I wrote my review beforehand.) I […]

Hit Or ‘Mis’: Hooper’s Musical Alternately Sinks And Soars

It’s here — the ultimate intersection of Hollywood and Broadway. A musical theater-lover’s wet dream. Les Misérables: the movie musical! Early buzz was good. Like, Best Picture good. Oscars all-around to the entire cast, life-changing good. Its opening day set a best-ever record for a movie musical at the box office, and was also one […]

This Is ‘Thirty’: A Bittersweet End To The Darkest Tale Of Our Times

Kathryn Bigelow has been directing for a few decades now, but it took a long time for us to really notice her. That happened with The Hurt Locker, 2009’s Oscar-winner for Best Picture and, historically, for Best Director. There are multiple angles with which to approach her win — one, that she deserved it. And […]

‘Holy’ Hell: A Surreal Limo Ride With Murder, Mo-Cap & Minogue

The most sublime moment of Holy Motors features a strange being from the sewers rising up and intruding upon a photo shoot. The photographer, previously enraptured by the beauty of a model played by Eva Mendes, is now captivated by the unique, vaguely monstrous creature he sees before him. “So weird!” he exclaims gleefully, multiple […]

‘Silver’ & Gold: A Kooky Romcom Aims To Woo The Academy

Bradley Cooper first became a household name in The Hangover, and ever since, has almost exclusively played jerks. He’s good at that. I’m not even sure the characters are written as jerks, but somehow, Cooper always manages to play them that way. Cooper first came to my attention, though, as a supporting player on Alias. […]

Abe Is Enough: ‘Lincoln’ Emancipates Spielberg From His Usual Tricks

Four score and seven years ago, it was 1925. That’s not really relevant, but it seems difficult to write a review of Lincoln without including the man’s most famous phrase, even if not that many people even know how many years “four score” is, and even if that’s the least important aspect of his Gettysburg […]