This may be the “feel good” movie of the first quarter. Yes, it’s a bit long and with the subject of cross country running, it’s not quite as exciting as it might be with another […]
Author: Bob Gibbons
review – taken 3
A half-dozen years ago, with the first movie that began this franchise, Liam Neeson seemed to have given new life to his career. At an age where he was a bit old to be a […]
review – still alice
This is both frightening and enlightening work. It’s a fully-affecting performance in a fully-disquieting movie. As the story goes deeper and the situation becomes more desperate, we feel helplessly trapped in the downward spiral of […]
review – american sniper
Clint Eastwood has directed thirty films, not all of them good. But, when he gets it right, he makes stripped-down entertainment that engages our mind, speaks to our heart, and leaves us changed by the […]
review – selma
This works better as an important history lesson than it does as a dramatic movie. It’s better written than it is edited, more authentically staged than it is emotionally engaging. It feels slow, stretched out, […]
review – into the woods
I love movie musicals. I could watch them forever – which is approximately how long this one seemed to go on. At just over two hours, it seems like it’s at least a half hour […]
review – the gambler
In a word, this movie is “tedious.” And blame that on Mark Wahlberg. He brings no emotional involvement to Jim Bennett, his gambling-addicted character who’s at the center of this story. He shows no elation […]
review – unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand, author of the book “Unbroken,” is a writer of great taste and enormous talent. She told the true, fully-human story of Louis Zamperini in a way that put his horrific experiences in World […]
review – big eyes
Think of this as “the beauty and the buffoon,” a potentially-intriguing story in which Tim Burton’s direction and Christoph Waltz’s performance force Amy Adams to act against a cartoonish character. The result is a husband-wife […]
review – wild
Director Jean-Marc Vallee has proven (in last year’s “Dallas Buyers Club”) that he can tell powerful stories by getting extraordinary performances from his actors — and he gets one from Witherspoon here. Make-up free for […]
review – top five
Tis the season of self-validation. Michael Keaton is proving he can transition from “Batman” to “Birdman.” Reese Witherspoon is showing she can be authentically “Wild,” rather than just “Legally Blonde.” And now Chris Rock is […]
review – inherent vice
This head trip of a movie seems to have at least a rough destination in mind, but – and blame it on the drugs — it’s also willing to wander down endlessly-confusing and always-convoluted back […]
review – horrible bosses 2
The original “Horrible Bosses” was clever. This one is crude to the point of being cringe-worthy. It keeps the cast, but jettisons most else. Gone are credibility, the exaggerated boss-worker relationships, and any semblance of […]
review – the imitation game
The tagline on the first teaser poster accurately summarized its plot succinctly: “The true enigma was the man who cracked the code.” His name was Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) and from the beginning, he was […]
review – foxcatcher
If you want a clear indication that the industry’s lost touch with the average movie-goer, consider the praise being heaped on this lumbering lump of a movie. This is a predictable story told thinly and […]
review – the homesman
As a writer-director, Tommy Lee Jones has an enduring attraction for the rugged west. He went there in 2006 for his directorial debut, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada;” now he’s back with a western […]
review – interstellar
In a movie filled with A-list talent, the biggest name here is one whose face is never on screen. This is a “Christopher Nolan movie” and once again, he and his brother Jonathan have written […]
review – the theory of everything
What an amazing performance. This is not so much a movie as it is a magic show in which Eddie Redmayne completely vanishes – slowly — and Stephen Hawking appears in his place and Eddie […]
review – big hero 6
Disney owns both Pixar and Marvel and so it may have only been a matter of time before Walt Disney Studios made a single movie combining the sensibility of the first with the action orientation […]
review – john wick
This is one hyper-violent movie. It’s also fragmented and choppy with unexplained and unrealistic sequences that go nowhere. Most images are so dark they’re difficult to see; many are so bloody they’re difficult to watch. […]
review – gone girl
I loved the book and the movie follows it closely — but this movie version is way, way too long. The story twists and turns, but throughout, nearly every scene could be trimmed – and […]
review – the judge
This movie is not nearly as good as it deserves to be. With A-list talent both on screen and behind the scenes, this should crackle with humor and human drama. Instead, the story wanders, the […]
review – a walk among the tombstones
Liam Neeson is a kind of likeable “everyman.” Every year, in recent times, he makes a small, tight action movie in which he rescues himself, his wife, his daughter — or some combination — from […]
review – the drop
This is the patient person’s crime thriller. It’s slow, deliberate, measured, fragmented in its approach. Characters emerge from the shadows, surrounded by silences. Everything starts in a reflection. The film takes its time to set […]
review – the skeleton twins
This is a poignant, often painful story of a brother and a sister whose rapport is real and lovingly abrasive. It’s a movie for everyone who has ever been part of a family. Milo (Bill […]
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 