“We need more Irish girls in Brooklyn.” That’s the opinion of Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) – and maybe he’s right. But for sure, we need this Irish girl’s story to be on screen much longer. […]
Category: In Theaters
review – spotlight
Tom McCarthy knows how to tell an engaging story. He proved it in “The Station Agent;” he proved it in “The Visitor;” and as writer-director of this film, he proves it again here. The story […]
review – trumbo
Think of this as the flip side of “The Intern.” That movie was a fictional comedy; this one’s a fact-based drama. But both are the stories of a man with experience — who wanted to […]
review – spectre
We begin with a brief quiz called: “Here’s the Plot; Name the Movie.” Plot: In an airborne stunt, our hero attempts to thwart a worldwide terrorist organization led by someone presumed dead. Back home, a […]
review – our brand is crisis
This may be an important movie; it’s probably a very accurate one (it’s based on a true story); it may even be one that will help you understand what’s going on in the political arena […]
review – suffragette
Trailers lie. The trailer for this movie made it appear that it had a gripping and visceral story to tell, that Meryl Streep had a central role to play, and that the characters had a […]
review – steve jobs
What an amazing piece of work. This isn’t constructed as a typical movie. Instead, it’s a series of revealing episodes, taking us backstage before three major product launches. In every case, it’s Jobs (Fassbender) berating […]
review – bridge of spies
It may be a borderline sacrilege to say this about the 27th Steven Spielberg-directed movie – and the fourth one starring Tom Hanks — but it’s true: this is a disappointing film. It starts so […]
review – the walk
This is an exhausting movie. Depending on your ability to “look down,” there may be scenes in here you simply can’t watch. But whatever your tolerance of heights, Philippe Petit’s (Gordon-Levitt) performance on the high […]
review – the intern
There’s a gentle sense of maturity in every Nancy Meyers-written and directed movie. She tells stories born of experience and in the process proves “experience never gets old.” Here, that’s not just the tagline, it’s […]
review – the martian
“I’m going to have to science the s**t out this.” That quote – from Mark Watney (Matt Damon) – from a point in this movie where he’s faced with yet another impossible obstacle – does […]
review – sicario
I’m not a fan of hyper-violent movies, but I am a fan of great performances – and Emily Blunt gives a transcending performance here. She lifts the movie above its genre and enables it to […]
review – pawn sacrifice
This is such a well-crafted movie. The direction shows real experience at creating tension and building interest; the acting brings out the inner live of the characters; the cinematography crosses eras and continents with images […]
review – black mass
This is a vicious, violent story that is less an engrossing tale than it is a character study of two guys from the old South Boston neighborhood who ended up on opposite sides of the […]
review – we are your friends
This is a terrible title for the thinnest of stories set to music at 128 beats per minute. And that, according to DJ Cole (Zac Efron), is the optimum rate to get an audience fully […]
review – the man from u.n.c.l.e.
When was the last time you left the theater fully refreshed? When was the last movie where you were thoroughly entertained? When was the last ticket where you bought where you got more than your […]
review – mistress america
As a writer-director, Noah Baumbach is not much concerned with plot. He just brings together a small group of oddball characters, provides things for them to do and to talk about, and lets us watch […]
review – the gift
You would think that, with a title like “The Gift,” this would be an uplifting, cheerful movie. Absolutely not so. Don’t see this movie if you live alone. But if you feel safe at night, […]
review – me and earl and the dying girl
A late review perhaps, but summers need more movies like this. This is a movie without special effects, big stars, and loud noises. Often, the camera just sits patiently, waiting for scenes to unfold. Actors […]
review – mission impossible: rogue nation
“This may well be our last mission,” William (Renner) tells Ethan (Cruise). “Make it count.” In this, the fifth installment in the M:I series, audience expectations may not be as high as the production budget, […]
review – ant man
This is somewhat smaller, much less-ambitious successor to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” – a super-hero movie that never takes itself seriously, a film that seems to believe it’s not worth saving the world unless […]
review – trainwreck
Judd Apatow makes very funny movies in a very crude sort of way. If you’re not easily offended by rampant sex and four letter words included casually in every sentence — and multiple examples of […]
review – minions
Think of them as yellow pint-sized capsules of humor that head straight to funny bone of the very young. There, they must tickle; how else to explain the uncontrolled laughter at the utter nonsense taking […]
review – ted 2
The original was an unexpected delight. This one is an unfunny disaster. It’s also unfocused and desperate; like Seth MacFarlane’s last outing, “A Million Ways to Die in The West,” this movie heads in a […]
review – inside out
“Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on in their head?” With that question, Pixar begins this, their fifteenth animated film. They take us into the mind of Riley, an 11-year-old […]
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 