Movie Reviews

The Story: A film — shot over a period of 12 years — that chronicles the life of one boy from childhood to the beginning of adulthood. The Lowdown: Unlike anything you've seen, Richard Linklater's Boyhood is a must-see work of quiet, subtle power that nearly justifies the great reputation that precedes its arrival.

In Brief: It's a double dose of Bela Lugosi at the Thursday Horror Picture Show this week, showcasing both the sublime and the sublimely ridiculous. White Zombie (1932) — the first zombie movie ever — is one of Lugosi's best films. Despite some surprisingly graphic moments, the film is more like a fairy tale with…

In Brief: Georges Franju's Judex (1963) is one fascinating oddity — both a remake of and homage to Louis Feuillade's 1916 serial about a caped vigilante crime fighter who calls himself Judex (meaning justice). It's essentially a simple revenge tale that's made complex by almost nonstop double-crosses and reversals (hey, it's from a serial). While…

In Brief: Though its romanticizing of spousal abuse seems both weird and wrong today, Ferenc Molnár's play, Liliom, was a big hit in Hungary and later on Broadway. That it would be filmed by Frank Borzage — a filmmaker who specialized in stories of transcendence — during that brief period when Fox Film was trying…

The Story: In order to get an oil company contract, a small town has to bamboozle a young doctor into staying there. The Lowdown: It's predictable and a little pokey. It's contrived and improbable. But The Grand Seduction has its own slender charms and terrific chemistry between its leads, making it a minor pleasure.

The Story: A grumpy widower is forced to take in his estranged granddaughter, who he helps raise with a widowed neighbor. The Lowdown: An unfunny, flat piece of melodrama that wants desperately to be adult and a little bit raunchy but instead comes across as childish and boorish.

In Brief: Not really released in the U.S. (or much of anywhere, it seems), Francis Ford Coppola's wayward horror picture Twixt is by no means a success. In fact, it's a mess. That its sub-Stephen King story is being told, experienced or both (it's a mess, I tell you) by a writer (Val Kilmer) who…

In Brief: It's big. It's colorful. It's longer than it needs to be. It's exciting. It's filled with movie stars who look like movie stars. It's preposterous in the way that only a Cecil B. DeMille movie can be. Essentially, Unconquered is a Western — only instead of cowboys and Indians, we have pre-Revolutionary War…

The Story: A clueless young woman accidentally gets an overdose of a new drug that causes her brain capacity to expand, giving her something like superpowers. The Lowdown: Yes, it's so dumb that it ought to be kind of likable, but incoherence, lousy special effects, stretches of tedium and a ponderous tone make it just…

In Brief: If Werner Herzog is the most idiosyncratic of all filmmakers — and the case can be made — there's a good chance that Heart of Glass (1976) is his most idiosyncratic work. Theoretically, it's the story of a late 18th century village that descends into madness when the foreman of a glassworks dies, taking the…

The Story: A struggling actor whose father is dying of cancer tries to keep his life — and family — together. The Lowdown: With a pile of needless quirk, here’s a movie that feels like rudimentary indie filmmaking from a decade ago, only more insufferable and out-of-touch.

The Story: Sword-for-hire Hercules agrees to help rid Thrace of a man trying to dethrone the king. The Lowdown: No, it's not really all that good, but this latest take — revisionist in nature — on Hercules is painless fun. Well-crafted action and a strong supporting cast make a difference.

In Brief: In 1930, Lewis Milestone made a film version of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. It was a breakthrough in sound filmmaking and one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made. It was a film that actually added something legendary to its literary source — the business of reaching for…

In Brief: Rear Window (1954), often cited as Alfred Hitchcock's best and most sophisticated film, is back on the big screen for one night only — Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at The Carolina as this month's Budget Big Screen movie. It's a chance to see the film in all the brilliance of its color…

In Brief: Tuesday would have been director James Whale's 125th birthday. It follows as sure as the sun will set and the moon will rise that the Thursday Horror Picture will mark the event with one of Whale's four classic horror films — and they don't come any more classic than his final work in…

The Story:  Sequel to last year's film about a reconfigured America where one night each year encourages purging the populace of the unemployed and homeless — and anyone else you just don't like. The Lowdown: While no less absurd than its dopey predecessor, this sequel is better made, more exciting and considerably more thought-provoking. It's…

In Brief: Asheville Film Society favorite William Powell returns in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936), a very enjoyable comedy-mystery from RKO that cashes in on Powell's own Thin Man series over at MGM. (Actually, it beat After the Thin Man into theaters.) Rather than teaming him with Myrna Loy, this film sets Powell up with Jean…

The Story: Complex espionage tale involving a refugee, an inheritance and warring factions of counter-terrorist agencies. The Lowdown: More cerebral than exciting, A Man Most Wanted presents an unromantic and penetrating look into the world of modern espionage. It wants to be more than it is, but it's still good and contains a strong performance…

In Brief: Robert Bresson's symbolic drama Au Hasard Balthazar — the story of the mostly sad life of a donkey named Balthazar — makes a welcome return appearance at World Cinema. Do not think that this is any kind of cute movie with some humanized animal. It is anything but. It may not be quite the…

In Brief: The Hendersonville Film Society ran John Ford's The Searchers (1956) about seven years ago, so it's certainly high time the movie showed back up on local screens. While I've never been convinced it's quite the masterpiece it's been hailed as — in part because of its influence on George Lucas and Star Wars…

In Brief: Paul Bonesteel's 2002 documentary The Mystery of George Masa — originally shown on PBS in 2003 — tells the story of the enigmatic Japanese conservationist and photographer Masahar Iizuka (locally known as George Masa). Using a mix of interviews, tasteful dramatic recreations, archival photos and a ton of reasearch, Bonesteel paints as complete a…