Movie Reviews

The Story: People in the near future are forced to find a suitable partner or to be transformed into an animal. The Lowdown: With an unsettling, if fairly absurd, premise, this is one of the strangest films of the year. It defies easy classification. In fact, despite its dark comedy, nothing about the film is easy…

In Brief: The Devil Bat (1940) marks the only time that Bela Lugosi worked for PRC Pictures. Whether once was enough (Lugosi had worked, and would work, at worse places) or whether his deal with Sam Katzman over at Monogram precluded further films is unknown. PRC was the lowest of the "real" studios, but it had…

The Story: Alice returns to Underland to save the Mad Hatter. The Lowdown: Despite a similar cast and comparable visual style, this sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland feels like an uninspired cash grab.

In Brief:  If you’ve never seen His Girl Friday (1940), this is definitely one of the greats from the “golden age” of movies — and it’s a film that still holds the record for the fastest dialogue in the history of movies. That crackling, witty banter is delivered by people who know exactly how to do…

In Brief: The films — the world — of Max Ophuls are certainly of a piece, in a similar tone of voice. All of them could be summed up with the same phrase used by the narrator (Anton Walbrook) of La Ronde (1950) when he explains that the story is set in 1900 Vienna: "I…

In Brief: The classic barnstorming melodrama The Face at the Window (1939) makes for what is probably the best of Tod Slaughter's horror output. Who is Tod Slaughter? He was England's answer to both Karloff and Lugosi — an enjoyably shameless ham who positively reveled in both his transparent, mustache-twirling villainy and his unabashed lechery. There was…

In Brief: Baz Luhrmann's follow-up to Moulin Rouge! (2001), Australia (2008), was a hugely expensive flop — big enough that Luhrmann and his friend Nicole Kidman decided maybe it would better if they didn't work together again. The truth is that it's big, a bit dumb, utterly fantasticated and completely romanticized. It’s also kind of…

The Story: After being pillaged by marauding pigs, a colony of birds sets out to get their revenge. The Lowdown: While a handsome-looking animated film, there’s not much here beyond some slapstick and a thin, pointless plot, even by cartoon standards.

The Story: A mismatched pair of unscrupulous private detectives find themselves embroiled in a dangerous conspiracy in 1977 Los Angeles. The Lowdown: Rude, raunchy, violent and very funny action-comedy-mystery with two great leads and a surprisingly terrific newcomer. Not for the easily offended, however.

The Story: An 18th-century widow must use her wiles to navigate English society of that time — and her wiles are up to the task. The Lowdown: Whit Stillman's take on Jane Austen's Lady Susan is a five-star delight — a deliciously droll one with more than a little bite to it. Funny, clever and oh-so-civilized…

The Story: Young parents, recently plagued by the ingress of a hard-playing frat into their idyllic suburban lives, now see their house sale threatened by a sorority intent on sticking it to The Man (and men in general) when they take over the neighboring domicile. The Lowdown: If you liked the first film, you’ll probably like…

In Brief: The Asheville Film Society kicks off its debut at the Grail Moviehouse with Gregory La Cava’s My Man Godfrey (1936), one of the essential “screwball” comedies. It may even be the essential one. From its glossy credits (probably the most striking title design of the decade) onward, it’s a slick, rich-looking production (despite its Depression-era setting)…

In Brief: I have read that, in a 1998 survey of Czech critics, Frantisek Vlácil’s Marketa Lazarová (1967) was voted the greatest Czech film ever made. Setting aside the questions of how many Czech critics there are and just how much competition there is for that accolade (oh, I’ll get mail for that), I have to say…

The Story: An in-depth look at the background actors who performed in the original Star Wars trilogy and how their connection with one of the most successful properties in film history continues to affect their lives. The Lowdown: While probably only essential viewing for the Star Wars completist, Elstree 1976 is an engaging look at the…

The Story: After their son brings home a haunted artifact from the Grand Canyon, a family finds themselves terrorized by ancient spirits. The Lowdown: A run-of-the-mill attempt at a scarefest, with dull characters, little atmosphere and zero scares.

The Story: An angry investor who relied on a TV show's stock tips and lost everything takes the show and its host hostage. The Lowdown: Often witty, frequently exciting, but neither as modern nor as important as it seems to think it is. Viewed as entertainment, however, it's worth a look.

In Brief: The Thursday Horror Picture is scheduled to return this week at a new venue, the Grail Moviehouse, and at a new time, 7:30 p.m. The opening feature is that 1962 classic of Mexi-horror, The Brainiac (El Barón del Terror). Often billed as "the most bizarre movie ever," there's no doubt that The Brainiac stands…

In Brief: For reasons unclear to me now, I didn't see Sidney J. Furie's Lady Sings the Blues when it came out in 1972 and just never bumped into it until this screening came along. I'm glad to have finally seen it, but I doubt I'll watch it a second time. It's pretty much a…

In Brief: The Asheville Jewish Film Festival wraps up this year with Roger Sherman's In Search of Israeli Cuisine as their closing night event (see pricing information below). This is a fairly straightforward documentary that does exactly what its title says. It follows Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov as he travels around Israeli (there seems to be…

The Story: A widow moves to L.A. to be near her daughter — and to do, on a large scale, what the title suggests. The Lowdown: Susan Sarandon shines in this unassuming, likable and sometimes even surprising comedy that manages to miss nearly every pitfall.

In Brief: George Sluizer’s The Vanishing (1988) made such an art house splash when it got to the U.S. in 1991 that Hollywood brought the director over to — you guessed it — remake his film in English with a more American-friendly cast. Also called The Vanishing, it earned tepid box office results and a good deal of…