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Anita Katz
Reviews: ‘Brideshead Revisited’ not worth return trip
- “Brideshead Revisited,” the 1945 Evelyn Waugh opus that inspired the memorable 1981 miniseries, is now a feature film — a fine idea if only it had done something broader, bolder or deeper with Waugh’s story about class, freedom, duty, faith and the alluring nature of messed-up rich folk.
Review: Streep saves ‘Mamma Mia!’
- In the dippy warp of anti-renaissance that was the 1970s, ABBA thrived, and, via fare such as “Mamma Mia!” — a new movie based on the play — the defunct pop supergroup continues to unleash its too-catchy songs on the world. Shift your mind-set into fluff mode, and this film should mildly satisfy. But an unoriginal, uneven presentation of the songbook and the sunshine hampers things considerably.
Review: A taste of modern immaturity
- Whether due to a fluke or a flair on the part of its creator, “The Wackness” is a surprisingly enjoyable comedy from the generally rusty spout devoted to the coming-of-age story. There is little that is extraordinary in this boy-meets-world indie, but the film combines and seasons its stock ingredients winningly.
Review: A profile of a ‘Gonzo’ guy
- A conventional filmmaker, Alex Gibney, salutes one of literature’s legendary rebels, Hunter S. Thompson, in the documentary “Gonzo,” and this matching indeed yields no revelations about its indomitable, outrageous, iconoclastic, substance-consuming, gun-loving subject.
- A conventional filmmaker, Alex Gibney, salutes one of literature’s legendary rebels, Hunter S. Thompson, in the documentary “Gonzo,” and this matching indeed yields no revelations about its indomitable, outrageous, iconoclastic, substance-consuming, gun-loving subject.
Review: A long fall from ‘Grace’
- “Savage Grace,” the latest indie dunk in the family-pathology swamp, presents the colorfully tragic saga of Barbara, Brooks and Tony Baekeland, the jet-setting clan who degenerated from high-society faves to the stuff of tabloid headlines in the mid-to-late 20th century.
- “Savage Grace,” the latest indie dunk in the family-pathology swamp, presents the colorfully tragic saga of Barbara, Brooks and Tony Baekeland, the jet-setting clan who degenerated from high-society faves to the stuff of tabloid headlines in the mid-to-late 20th century.
Review: It’s all about evil
- With gothic tones prevailing and schlock genes raging, Dario Argento is back, and the horror showman delivers considerable vim and viscera in his latest gorefest, “The Mother of Tears.” But the film’s distinguishing qualities end there.
- With gothic tones prevailing and schlock genes raging, Dario Argento is back, and the horror showman delivers considerable vim and viscera in his latest gorefest, “The Mother of Tears.” But the film’s distinguishing qualities end there.
Review: Not much ‘Happening’
- Displaying the distinctiveness but not the profundity that he patently aims for, M. Night Shyamalan is back with another eerie thriller, “The Happening.” Evolving as a filmmaker, the “Sixth Sense” writer-director avoids gimmicks and plot twists in this doomsday drama starring Mark Wahlberg and the Pennsylvania wind.
- Displaying the distinctiveness but not the profundity that he patently aims for, M. Night Shyamalan is back with another eerie thriller, “The Happening.” Evolving as a filmmaker, the “Sixth Sense” writer-director avoids gimmicks and plot twists in this doomsday drama starring Mark Wahlberg and the Pennsylvania wind.
Review: A brawn derby of a doc
- “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” is a stuffed but satisfying documentary about steroid use among athletes and bodybuilders and how this issue reflects the national obsession with size and might.
- “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” is a stuffed but satisfying documentary about steroid use among athletes and bodybuilders and how this issue reflects the national obsession with size and might.
Review: Dazzling flick takes a ‘Fall’
- Tarsem Singh, maestro of dazzle, has poured ample ambition and undeniable heart into “The Fall,” his global fantasia wrapped in an intimate melodrama about two injured souls who enrich each other. But without the wit and spirit that its material demands, the movie amounts to mere achievement in spectacle.
- Tarsem Singh, maestro of dazzle, has poured ample ambition and undeniable heart into “The Fall,” his global fantasia wrapped in an intimate melodrama about two injured souls who enrich each other. But without the wit and spirit that its material demands, the movie amounts to mere achievement in spectacle.
Review: Lovely ‘Lonely’ impressions
- Whether he’s establishing a distinguishing groove or simply delivering a fluky bolt of sweetness from a cloud in quirkville, writer-director Harmony Korine creates charming, luminous, time-capsule-worthy moments in “Mister Lonely,” a tale centering on two celebrity impersonators.
- Whether he’s establishing a distinguishing groove or simply delivering a fluky bolt of sweetness from a cloud in quirkville, writer-director Harmony Korine creates charming, luminous, time-capsule-worthy moments in “Mister Lonely,” a tale centering on two celebrity impersonators.
Review: There will be blood on their hands
- The Iraq war films, they keep on coming, and with the arrival of “Battle for Haditha,” this under-seen collection obtains one of its finer dramas.
- The Iraq war films, they keep on coming, and with the arrival of “Battle for Haditha,” this under-seen collection obtains one of its finer dramas.
Review: ‘Rambow’ goes where the action is
- Two 11-year-olds make a film together, sealing their friendship with blood and producing carnage with ketchup, in “Son of Rambow,” a rough-and-ready action flick within a slice-of-boyhood comedy set on a memory wave of 1980s movie joy. Cute but contrived, the film contains vitality and likability to spare, but it doesn’t have the impact or the originality necessary to achieve the indie-gem status it seeks.
- Two 11-year-olds make a film together, sealing their friendship with blood and producing carnage with ketchup, in “Son of Rambow,” a rough-and-ready action flick within a slice-of-boyhood comedy set on a memory wave of 1980s movie joy. Cute but contrived, the film contains vitality and likability to spare, but it doesn’t have the impact or the originality necessary to achieve the indie-gem status it seeks.
Review: ‘Dark Matter’ lost in space
- A simplistic presentation of a potentially devastating story sinks “Dark Matter,” a drama about a promising foreign student who, unable to soar in the country of his dreams, down-spirals into horrific violence. Relevance and heartbreak exist plentifully on the palette of first-time feature director Chen Shi-Zheng, but mere surfaces prevail on the screen.
- A simplistic presentation of a potentially devastating story sinks “Dark Matter,” a drama about a promising foreign student who, unable to soar in the country of his dreams, down-spirals into horrific violence. Relevance and heartbreak exist plentifully on the palette of first-time feature director Chen Shi-Zheng, but mere surfaces prevail on the screen.