REVIEW: i’m thinking of ending things

For a filmmaker whose first script, Being John Malkovich, plunged us, literally, into the head of a revered character actor and whose most recent, Anomalisa, was a stop-motion meditation on individuality, a couple’s car journey to visit the boyfriend’s parents might seem a bit… prosaic?…

REVIEW: The Mercy

Director James Marsh makes domestic drama out of an expeditionary tragedy in this slight but sympathetic biopic.

All Is Lost by way of Theory Of EverythingThe Mercy delves into the ill-fated attempt of amateur sailor Donald Crowhust’s (Colin Firth) to compete in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe race; an unprecedented non-stop, one-man boat race around the world.…

Anomalisa is a truly individual film (which is ironic, considering)

 

How do you know you’ve found the right person? And how do you know they’ll stay that way? It’s this fundamental human question that forms the basis of Kaufman’s latest, Anomalisa.

Kaufman’s second film in the director’s chair follows Michael Stone, a highly successful but deeply insecure customer service guru, who experiences a reprieve from his ennui when, during a business trip to Cincinnati, he encounters Lisa, a perfectly ordinary, indeed unremarkable, call center employee, who is to him utterly unique.…

Kurtzel’s Macbeth lacks not only significance but sound and fury too

 

What do you think is the greatest Shakespeare adaptation ever committed to celluloid?

Perhaps you favor the expressionistic majesty and revelry of Welles’ Chimes at Midnight, or maybe the jazzy, black-and-white sophistication of Joss Whedon’s contemporary Much Ado.…

Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth lacks not just significance but sound and fury

What do you think is the greatest Shakespeare adaptation ever committed to celluloid?

Perhaps you favor the expressionistic majesty and revelry of Welles’ Chimes at Midnight, or maybe the jazzy, black-and-white sophistication of Joss Whedon’s contemporary Much Ado. For all the promise of its conception, Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth does not stand among their exalted ranks.

For all its ideas, Zero Theorem is simply an entertaining zero-sum game

 

Terry Gilliam’s first film since the ill-fated, but enjoyable Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Zero Theorem showcases the former Python animator’s uniquely discordant worldview, as well as confirming Christoph Waltz as a supreme resource for any talented director.

The bald-headed, hunched-over, strangely grotesque Qohen is light years away from the smooth Hans Landa or charming Schultz.…

RED 2 is a perfectly good geri-actioner

 

Do you remember my review of A Good Day to Die Hard, all the way back in the mists of time?

There’s no reason for you to, but in it I aired my complaints with what has become of the series that gave Bruce Willis a career beyond Moonlighting.…