Reviews
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo — Salander As She Should Be
Being, seemingly, one of only two people across the globe who disliked Steig Larsson’s trilogy, I didn’t flock to see David Fincher’s screen adaptation. In part, there are certain plot ...
Our Idiot Brother — Flat Idealism
Ned lives contently with Willie Nelson (his dog) and girlfriend, Liz, somewhere in upstate New York. The vibe is reminiscent of hippiedom, or at least re-imagined hippiedom. Liz and Ned ...
If a Tree Falls — Be Thankful Squirrels Can’t Use Lighters
…in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? This century-old philosophical thought experiment is often conducted to explore the connection between our ...
Chronicle — Teenage Turmoil: Acne and Telekinesis
Andrew Detmer (Dane Dehaan) is a high school-assassin waiting to happen. Despite his often stoic demeanor, an anger ebbs and flows underneath, occasionally manifesting itself in a frustrated outburst. If it’s ...
The Guard — A Raucous Tale of Police Corruption and Prejudice
Tales of police corruption in cinema are a dime a dozen. Some are akin to Serpico. Others are like Brooklyn’s Finest. Then there’s The Guard, which resembles neither, but has ...
A Separation — Class, Faith, Pride, and Family
A Separation begins and ends in a similar way: a seemingly insurmountable, superficially minute amount of space in the labyrinthine corridors of the Iranian judicial system. To begin Simin and ...
Hell and Back Again — An Erased Sense of Purpose
Similar to last year’s Restrepo, this year’s Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, Hell and Back Again, looks at the trials and tribulation within the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan, centering, ...
The Grey — Maintaining a Safe Distance From Survival Porn
Making a movie about survival is tricky insomuch as, generally speaking, the writer, director, and cast have little frame of reference from which to draw the logical course of action ...
Man on a Ledge — Yep, There Is
Man on a Ledge might be the most literal-titled, cliche-riddled movie anyone will see this year, but amid the sea of tropes and trash, there are clever moments, which makes ...
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close — If Ever There Were a More Accurate Title…
Of the nine Academy Award nominees for Best Picture this year, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was a shocking addition. At the same time, if there were ever an award ...
