Movie Reviews

The Story: The story of one woman's lifelong struggle with her religious beliefs. The Lowdown: An outstanding directorial debut for Farmiga resulting in a noteworthy, if ultimately flawed, examination of faith.

The Story: An idealistic young campaign staffer learns that politics isn't what he envisioned, and that the candidate he believes in isn't flawless. The Lowdown: Rock-solid filmmaking, good drama and a splendid cast all fall just short of adding up to the powerful political exposé the film wants to be.

The Story: An imagining of the life of Mozart's older sister, Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart, and her thwarted musical ambitions. The Lowdown: A solid -- if highly fictionalized -- biographical drama that is actually at its best when it is the most fictional. The ideas are intriguing throughout, but the approach is ultimately too intellectualized…

The Story: A down-on-his-luck dad and his estranged son try to turn a junked sparring robot into a robot-boxing champion. The Lowdown: Sure, the premise is nothing new, but the film still works because of a likable cast, perfect pacing and a willingness to be a cheesy, uplifting sports flick.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show part one of The Cat's Meow at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

The Story: A young man deals with his friends and family after he is diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. The Lowdown: Sensitive and slyly humorous take on a serious subject that skirts most of the pitfalls inherent in this kind of story.

The Story: A couple's new home turns out to harbor a dark secret, which itself contains a secret of a different kind. The Lowdown: An almost complete misfire from director Jim Sheridan and a strong cast. It may in part be the result of studio tampering, but the film is simply tepid, slow, rather dull…

The Story: After reading a magazine article, a woman decides she’s slept with too many men, and decides to track down her exes to see if one of them might be “the one.” The Lowdown: A nice cast can’t stop this tired attempt at romcom from simply falling apart.

The Story: Four cops and a day laborer make a pact to become better fathers. The Lowdown The best looking of Sherwood Baptist Church’s feature films is nevertheless a bloated, boring mess of a movie.

It’s October, and the folks at World Cinema have decided to present a month of horror-tinged movies for Halloween. First up is Ingmar Bergman’s Hour of the Wolf (1968), which is often referred to as the director’s only horror picture. Actually, that seems a bit wide of the mark to me. It would not be […]

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen Quatermass and the Pit on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Story: Doomed romance between a troubled young man and a girl with a brain tumor that plays nothing like the cliche that this suggests. The Lowdown: A very special, very unusual, very good romantic fantasy that -- despite superficial similarities to other films -- has its own distinct identity. Sad and touching without being…

The Asheville Film Society will screen The Palm Beach Story Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther. Hanke is the artistic director of the A.F.S.

The Story: A Nebraska cop takes a job as a "peacekeeper" in Bosnia and uncovers corruption and a sex-trafficking ring. Her attempts to expose this puts her in jeopardy. The Lowdown: Rachel Weisz is the primary reason to see this well-intended, but not entirely successful film about cover-ups and the abuse of power.

The Story: Uplifting fact-based story of a dolphin who loses her tail. The Lowdown: Appallingly manipulative, but reasonably effective feel-good story of the family-friendly kind, and raised a notch by Morgan Freeman's presence in the second half.

The Story: A documentary about Brazilian race driver Ayrton Senna. The Lowdown: Amazing assembly of film footage from Senna's career -- along with home movies and videos -- painting a biographical picture of the driver and his races.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present L'Avventura at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com