Category Reviews
Wild (2014)
Wild will make you believe in the healing power of nature In 1995, Cheryl Strayed’s life was crashing down around her. Her mother died following a short fight against cancer, she was cheating on her husband, and she was shooting heroin. A pregnancy scare was the last straw. Cheryl left her home, her job and […]
Big Eyes (2014)
Delightful telling of a true story that feels made for the big screen Watching the story of Margaret and Walter Keane unfold in Big Eyes it’s hard to believe that it all really happened. A team of Hollywood’s best screenwriters may not have been able to come up with a better plot. Margaret, a newly […]
Selma (2014)
David Oyelowo gives a virtuoso performance as Martin Luther King, Jr. in a biopic the great leader deserves Biopics can be a little bland. No matter who it’s about, or how fascinating his or her life and accomplishments, the movie itself tends to follow the same pattern: troubled childhood, early success, marital problems, a spectacular […]
Into the Woods (2014)
A faithful, crowd-pleasing adaptation of a Broadway classic What makes a great movie musical? A top-notch book and songs, competent cast, good production value and above all, only deviations from the original show when necessary for improving it for the screen. Into the Woods delivers on all counts. Stepen Sondheim’s fairy tale classic is imagined […]
Cleaver’s Destiny (2013)
(Originally published in LA Weekly) A teenager tries to connect with her amnesiac, homeless father in this underwhelming little film entirely ill-equipped to deal with its serious and important themes. Seventeen-year-old Amy (Jenny Leona di Gennaro) has just been dumped by her boyfriend, who is also her teacher and twice her age, and is struggling […]
A Strange Brand of Happy (2013)
(Originally published in LA Weekly) You want to like A Strange Brand of Happy. After the hand-drawn, animated opening credits, there’s hope it may be a kind of Juno-esque, quirky-but-poignant indie comedy that arthouse audiences love. But try as it might, A Strange Brand of Happy is never as funny or compelling as it seems […]
Sparrows Dance (2013)
(Originally published in Village Voice) Great news, ladies: If you want to find the perfect man, never leave your apartment and he’ll just show up at your door! At least, that’s what happens to the unnamed Woman in Sparrows Dance. When a plumbing emergency strikes our heroine’s cozy, self-imposed prison of an apartment, which she […]
Inch’Allah (2013)
(Originally published in Village Voice) Inch’Allah is one of those films that strives to be Important—at the expense of moving us. Chloé is a Canadian obstetrician working in a Palestinian refugee camp who becomes swept up in the lives of those around her: pregnant Rand and her brothers, Faysal and young Safi; the local boys […]
This is Martin Bonner (2013)
It’s never too late to start over. Martin has just left behind his two children, grandchild, ex-wife and bankruptcy in Maryland for a job in Reno, Nevada at a transitional program for released inmates. Travis, a new member of the program, is a free man after twelve years behind bars. This is Martin Bonner tells […]
Magic Camp (2013)
(Originally published in The Village Voice) It’s heartening to know that places like Tannen’s Magic Camp exist. A summer camp held at Bryn Mawr College for aspiring magicians ages 12 to 20, Tannen’s is the subject of the slight but delightful documentary Magic Camp, which focuses on five campers over the course of the week-long session. The kids […]
Robin Migdol 