movie reviews
Movie Review: Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
3.5 stars out of 5 In the Mission: Impossible films, protagonist Ethan Hunt famously disguises himself with rubber masks. At age 61, Tom Cruise is starting to look like he’s always wearing a rubber mask. But by gum, he can still crank out an entertaining action spectacle. And despite the return of writer/director Chris McQuarrie, […]
Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
4 stars out of 5 I was 12 when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, and the lost ark of the Covenant was mentioned in the Haftorah portion at my bar mitzvah. Needless to say, I have an awful of lot of emotional energy invested in the character of Indiana Jones. And though hard […]
Movie Review: Asteroid City
4 stars out of 5Wes Anderson is one of my all-time fave filmmakers so if he wants to continue experimenting with the form — puppets, anthology, and now, a story within a story — it’s certainly OK with me. Whether these “exercises” create a bit of distance between film and viewer and thereby prevent the […]
Movie Review: Sanctuary
3 stars out of 5 Last time I wrote about a French thriller, and because I’m a goofball, I nearly made a joke about French ticklers — but ultimately thought the better of it. Sanctuary, however, could use a tickler or two to spice things up. I have been a fan of Margaret Qualley since […]
Movie Review: The Night of the 12th
4 stars out of 5When I’ve been in a steady art-movie groove, I have had a reliable pleasure: French thrillers. They’re generally a notch above Hollywood thrillers, or at least the cool accents and unfamiliar settings make them seem that way. But the pandemic has been particularly hard on art-house theaters, with their audiences apparently […]
Movie Review: You Hurt My Feelings
3.5 stars out of 5I’m feeling a bit self-conscious. This whole movie is about hurt feelings; what if writer/director Nicole Holofcener (“Who I’ve had drinks with,” said in my best Jon Lovitz voice) googles this review and finds out I didn’t think it was perfect, and then feels all sad? Alas, like Lee Nails, I […]
Movie Review: It Ain’t Over
3 stars out of 5I didn’t want to see it. But I had 8 hours to kill between checking out of the Berkeley Hotel and doors opening at the House of Independents for the rock and roll hootenanny. Eating only lasts so long. But movies, movies are good. You go in at one time, and […]
Jack Silbert, curator