“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 […]
Tag: movie review
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 looking planet
The Looking Planet is a truly magnificent piece of animation. The imaginative rendering of a slightly different take on “intelligent design”, director Eric Law Anderson has given animation fans and creators a film that raises […]
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 – echoes of time
This Slovenian film by writer / director Ema Kugler is a languidly paced, visual wonder. With a quiet, confident hand, the film reflects an artistic, visionary view on the modern condition. The film opens with […]
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 – come simi
First-time director Jenica Bergere has rendered a lovingly crafted indie in Come Simi, a film in which she also stars. The title is a cute play on the request as much as the little hamlet known as Simi […]
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 – our fight
This short, poignant documentary chronicles the murder of Edwin Chota and three other indigenous inhabitants of Peru’s in their on-going struggle to defend their land from illegal loggers and drug traffickers. Tucked deep in Peru’s Amazon […]
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 […]
review – hyena’s blood
Hyena’s Blood tracks the life of corrupt DEA agent Paul Kavinski (Jon Lange) who is operating in Mexico in 1973. Renowned commercial director Nicolas Caicoya showcases his expertise with the moving image in the hyper violent […]
Hailing from Beirut, Lebanon, Hend is a delicate reflection on complex relationships and the depth of the maternal bond. Within the quiet confines of this beautifully shot short film, first time writer / director Stephanie Bou […]
review – spy
Writer-Director Paul Feig knows how to make Melissa McCarthy much funnier in his movies (see “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat”) than in the movies she finds on her own (don’t see either “Tammy” or “Identity Thief”). […]
review – love & mercy
Brian Wilson gave The Beach Boys their sound, their early hits, and their direction. This is an introspective look at his music — and his madness. With the number of Beach Boy biographies and made-for-TV […]
review – aloha
What could Cameron Crowe possibly have been thinking? As a writer and director, he is at least idiosyncratic (his last movie was “We Bought A Zoo”) and sometimes incomprehensible (consider “Vanilla Sky”), but then he’s […]
review – tomorrowland
It’s named after a section of Disneyland, but it really embodies the purpose of EPCOT and the spirit of the Kodak-sponsored adventure, the original “Journey Into Imagination.” One indication: in the first fifteen minutes, the […]
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 