Movie Reviews

The Story: A young boy whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11 searches New York for what he believes is a message from his father. The Lowdown: Well-crafted and well-acted, but too contrived in its story to quite ring true.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Tell No One at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

I have a long history of writing about Edmund Goulding’s Grand Hotel (1932). You see, I managed to flummox my English teacher into allowing me to do my final senior term paper on the film some 40 years ago. I have no idea what I wrote about it then, but I am sure it was […]

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Changeling Thursday, Jan. 12, 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 Asheville Film Society will screen The Boy Friend on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 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: Biopic on British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, told in flashback format. The Lowdown: An unenlightening, rather ham-fisted film elevated by Meryl Streep and, to a lesser extent, Jim Broadbent.

The Story: An American heads to Italy to find the truth about her mentally ill mother, who may be possessed by demons. The Lowdown: The latest in the shaky-cam school of fake documentary horror is passable entertainment, but distracting in its attempts at realism, wholly derivative structure and an unbelievably frustrating ending.

The Story: Two couples get together to discuss a fight their children had -- only to end up arguing amongst themselves. The Lowdown: A bitterly comic look at the foibles of mankind's pretense of being more civilized and reasonable than it is. Very funny, but very dark in the Polanski tradition.

The Asheville Film Society will screen Dante's Inferno and Always on Sunday on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 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 Asheville Film Society.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show West Side Story at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Orpheus at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

The Story: There's a Russian mole at the very top of the British secret service in this Cold War spy thriller, and it's up George Smiley (Gary Oldman) to find him. The Lowdown: Thoughtful and thought-provoking, this realistic -- and not action-oriented -- spy yarn emerges as one of 2011's best films with a brilliant…

The Story: A group of Americans vacationing in Russia get caught up in an invasion by invisible aliens. The Lowdown: Basic cable-TV-level sci-fi, and completely devoid of originality or style.

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen Altered States on Thursday, Jan. 5, 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: The story of a horse taken from rural England to be used in WWI -- his travails and the hopes of his young owner to be re-united with him. The Lowdown: Depending on your taste for Spielberg's old-fashioned Hollywood spectacle style, this will either thrill and move you, or slightly annoy you. Maybe…