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Cluny Brown

“Ernst Lubitsch and his zesty, twisty brand of comedy and wit is on display in Cluny Brown, his final completed work right before his death in 1946. (That Lady in Ermine was completed by Otto Preminger in 1948.) Cluny Brown contains many of his grand hallmarks, but it’s ever-so-slightly a notch bel” read more

Love Letters

“There was an abundance of these type of melodramas through the wartime years, and their peculiar rhythms and heightened sense of romance is a language that requires a dexterous tongue. Your mileage may vary, but if you can hop on Love Letters’ preposterous wavelength then its near narcotic sense o” read more

Since You Went Away

“After winning back-to-back Best Picture Oscars with Gone with the Wind and Rebecca, super-producer David O. Selznick returned with this three-hour long Homefront drama. Since You Went Away was Selznick’s contribution to morale boosting cinema, and a clear swipe at making an American version of Mrs” read more

The Song of Bernadette

“On the one hand, The Song of Bernadette is far too long and meandering for its own good, one the other hand, it’s one of the few films that tackle faith and devout belief with kindness and solemn respect. Perhaps it’s a bit too solemn though, as Bernadette can feel an awfully lot like a proselyt” read more

Dick Tracy’s G-Men

“This is…fine, I guess, as these things go. It’s hard to muster up much enthusiasm or spite for Dick Tracy’s G-Men. It’s improbable like any of these movie serials, has a pleasing lead actor, there’s contortions into ridiculous shapes to keep the drama/action going, but it all just feels so” read more

Thor: Ragnarok

“Everyone’s least favorite Marvel franchise finally gets a thoroughly enjoyable entry after a mediocre first one and a sloppy second. Third time really is the charm for the Asgardian gang, even if Ragnarok repeats many of the same problems as Thor and The Dark World. Why do films ostensibly about T” read more

New Frontier

“Maybe any one of the other 50 entries in the Three Mesquiteers franchise are actually good, enjoyable B-movie westerns that manage to thrill within their limited scope, but New Frontier is not one of them. Even at barely under an hour it feels padded and stretched thin. There’s no nuance or textur” read more

In the Loop

“Can we all just admit that television-to-film adaptations typically don’t work, and that they emerge as bloated episodes on the big screen? Or that they emerge with a distinct feeling of three or more episodes strung together? Well, prepare to be amazed as In the Loop functions on its own merits a” read more

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

“Well, this one is at least better than the prior entry in this never-ending franchise that has grown stale and cemented into a series of character tropes and ideas recycled from one chapter to the next. There’s nothing new added to the expanded mythology here besides the presence of young, dewy lo” read more

The Invasion

“Ah, The Invasion a movie compromised by committee interference and the last minute decision to bring in not only the Wachowskis to rewrite the script but James McTeigue to handle the reshoots. This leaves The Invasion as a film in search of an identity. Well, that and a core idea, any idea will do a” read more

Million Dollar Baby

“Sometimes Clint Eastwood’s penchant for fast, loose, and cheap directing projects ends up working in the film’s favor, and other times it sinks the production because the sutures bleed throughout. American Sniper’s quickie nature was evident, look no further than that laughable fake baby, and ” read more

The Manchurian Candidate

“Not a direct remake of the sweaty, paranoid original by John Frankenheimer, but another adaptation of the source material, this version of The Manchurian Candidate still can’t seem to emerge from the omnipresent shadow of the 1962 film. Not entirely fair as this version makes numerous changes (som” read more

Barton Fink

“What exactly is Barton Fink about, really? What do all of these vague symbols and political allusions add up to, and does the deeper “truth” to them really matter? Barton Fink seems in deeply enamored with its own ambiguities, both in narrative architecture and thematically.   It’s about t” read more

Kagemusha

“If Kagemusha isn’t as daring as Akira Kurosawa’s other samurai epics, like Seven Samurai or Throne of Blood, then it is still a pleasurable jewel of a late master throwing around his considerable artistry and craft. The troubled birth and production doesn’t show (much), and it is an immensely ” read more

Carousel

“Call me crazy, but I almost miss the cotton candy fluff of other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals if the alternative is Carousel which presents domestic abuse in the most questionable way imaginable. After all, the lousy main character gets semi-redeemed while his widow and orphaned child spout out ” read more