Movie Reviews

The Story: A family of guileless Americans find themselves in the midst of a bloody revolution in an unidentified Asian country. The Lowdown: Yes, it's appallingly xenophobic and casually racist, but this action picture is so dumb that it clearly has no agenda. A miscast Owen Wilson and Lake Bell run around looking menaced, while…

In Brief: Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) is that rarest of things — a full-blown horror movie that also managed to get respect even when it was new. Fredric March won an Oscar for best actor for his performance. Karl Struss was nominated for an Oscar for cinematography, as were Percy Heath and Samuel…

The Story: The genetically-engineered title character pursues a young woman in the hopes of getting to her missing father. The Lowdown: A witless mess that wastes a few good actors and provides a few unintended laughs, but hardly enough to make it worthwhile.

The Story: Documentary about the televised Gore Vidal-William F. Buckley Jr. debates at the 1968 political conventions. The Lowdown: Entertaining look at two gigantic egos in conflict on national television — and of historical significance as the birth of the political TV pundit.

The Story: A perpetually stoned convenience store clerk with an inexplicably attractive girlfriend discovers that he is a highly trained but artificially amnesic CIA asset when the perpetually stoned kid from That ’70s Show tries to have him killed. The Lowdown: An insipid waste of time that seeks to serve as both action film and…

In Brief: Though not one of the best of the famous Ealing Comedies, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) may just be the best loved of them all. It's a sly yet largely understated (apart from a few exceptional slapstick sequences) caper comedy about a bank transfer agent (Alec Guinness) who hits upon the idea of…

In Brief: The idea behind Peter Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon (1976) was clearly to make a comeback after the box office disaster of At Long Last Love (1975). The idea was to re-team Ryan and Tatum O'Neal in a black-and-white period movie that would recapture the success of Paper Moon (1973), and while the studio was OK…

The Story: Sequel to the 2012 film about an ancient demon turning susceptible children into mass murderers.  The Lowdown: In most respects, it's an improvement over its predecessor, but it's still more of the same with better characters. Watchable, but hardly essential.

The Story: A teenage girl in 1976 San Francisco becomes sexually — and romantically — involved with her mother's 34-year-old boyfriend. The Lowdown: Boldly honest and frank coming-of-age film that is at once daring in its subject matter, yet very much part of its genre. Good, but not quite great, and definitely likely to offend…

In Brief: I do not question the classic — even iconic — status of Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953). It's a solidly made picture, and the image of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing in the surf is one of cinema's most enduring (and most parodied). The performances are excellent across the board,…

In Brief: Four years ago, the Asheville Film Society ran Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971) as part of ActionFest. Back then, Paramount advised running it from the DVD (which was nothing to brag about) because the available prints were in such bad shape. Much has changed in four years. Now the film is available…

The Story: The rise and fall of hip hop supergroup N.W.A. The Lowdown: A solid biopic that overstays its welcome slightly but will still appeal to fans and outsiders alike.

The Story: Prequel that sets up the basics of the 1960s TV series. The Lowdown: It's a little calmer than most Guy Ritchie movies, but it's just right for the material. Terrific to look at, brisk, stylish, funny (but just serious enough) and beautifully cast.

In Brief: The Asheville Film Society had a large — and enthusiastic — turn-out for Eddie Cantor's first talkie, Whoopee! (1930), a couple of years ago, so Cantor is being brought back in Leo McCarey's The Kid from Spain (1932). While it lacks the antique charm of Whoopee! — along with that film's early Technicolor and time-capsule value of preserving…

The Story: In post-WWII Berlin, a Jewish woman, who was shot in the face and left for dead by the Nazis returns with a reconstructed face and agrees to "pose" as herself — in an attempt to get at her inheritance — for the husband who no longer recognizes her and thinks she's dead. The…

In Brief: "It" was a term coined by racy (for the time) novelist Elinor Glyn. Though meaning somewhat more, "It" was essentially interchangeable with sex appeal. That's certainly how it was mostly used — and it was used a lot in its day (when the word "sex" was considered impolite), though the abbreviation "S.A." would…

In Brief: The Seventh Seal is probably the single biggest old warhorse of art-house cinema. But there’s a reason it achieved that status: It’s so damned good. When it first appeared in 1957, it was not at all like anything else that had come before it. It wasn’t even like Bergman. Oh, sure, there had been…

The Story: A poet-philosopher under house arrest is being deported to his homeland, but stops along the way to dispense advice and blessings — much to the displeasure of the authorities. The Lowdown: A clearly well-intentioned attempt at translating Gibran's book to film that may play well enough to adherents, but may be a puzzling…

In Brief: High on the list of underrated — perhaps even misunderstood — Roman Polanski films is his 1999 diabolical thriller, The Ninth Gate. When it appeared 16 years ago, most critics seemed to want to dismiss the film out of hand with the typical (and wrongheaded) outcry of it being inferior to his Rosemary’s Baby (1968). In…

The Story: Fact-based story covering the five days David Lipsky spent with author David Foster Wallace at the end of his 1996 tour for Infinite Jest.  The Lowdown: Not really a biopic, but more a compelling — and surprisingly entertaining — slice of time spent with a famous writer, and the tensions and evasions and…

The Story: Four mild-mannered youngsters gain superpowers after a science experiment gone wrong. The Lowdown: A disjointed, joyless addition to the saturated world of comic book movies.