Liaison lacks an inventive approach or even a satisfying character-driven angle.
The film falls back on a reductive rumination on the balance between maternal obligation and career aspiration.
A very charitable reading might say that Roman Polanski’s Based on a True Story is designed to be self-negating.
Tim Burton’s direction reminds us of the distinct, peculiar coyness that was always at the heart of his best films.
The Salvation is hemmed in by its fealty to the ghosts of westerns’ past.
Kristian Levring’s film achieves nothing more than hollow caricature.
Gregg Araki’s film suggests a hothouse melodrama that’s been drained of the hothouse, the melodrama, and any other discernably dramatic stakes.
Whereas a single, stinging one-liner would have sufficed Tourneur or Lang, Miller’s overcompensating flood of pulpy dialogue only renders his characters flat and sans empathy.
It’s too neat, too tasteful and narcotizing, for a work that’s full of diseases and serial killers and classist atrocity.
The film leaves no doubt of the original’s influence, but to watch it is to sit dumbstruck at the cynicism of Hollywood bean counting.
If you’re a seasoned fan, or even looking to dig into the series for the first time, Bond 50 is an essential package.
Warner’s Blu-ray release of Tim Burton’s latest underpraised ode to resurrection and individuality looks and sounds spectacular.
The film recalls bloated misfires of decades past like The Witches of Eastwick and Dracula.
All of Womb’s affected quietude just smacks of posturing.
Visually glassy and smooth, Perfect Sense values the dynamic mood of each scene without being overly stylized.
Camelot plays it fast and loose with genre, historical authenticity, and good taste in general.
Whether in literature or film, the boarding-school setting tends to lend itself to one of a handful of possible narratives.
The whole shebang is just a prolonged setup for a bear fight.
Finally, a Bond adventure one can enjoy without apology.
Casino Royale is one of the good ones, and not just for the way it wittily recontextualizes several series touchstones.