Movie Reviews

The Story: A south Texas college freshman on a baseball scholarship in the early ’80s navigates the interpersonal dynamics of his new team in the days before classes start. The Lowdown: While the premise and plot may harken back to the trivial sex farces of the ’80s, Everybody is imbued with the heart and humor…

The Story: With their neighborhood falling to pieces, a local barber decides to bring change to his community. The Lowdown: A surprisingly welcome visit from a long (somewhat) forgotten series that’s far from perfect, but gets points for being both entertaining and pertinent (although perhaps a bit pat).

In Brief: There were few movies I was so looking forward to in 2010 than Julie Taymor's version of The Tempest. Unfortunately, it died (at $277,000 on a $20 million budget) long before it penetrated the provinces. Upshot? I, of course, snatched up the DVD as soon as possible. Result? Disappointment, but nowhere near the…

The Story: The CIA implants a murdered agent’s memories into the mind of a brain-damaged convict in the hopes of thwarting a Spanish anarchist’s nebulous scheme to take control of America’s weapons systems. The Lowdown: A cast that should’ve known better is dragged down by a thoroughly terrible script in this criminally stupid potboiler.

The Story: A young boy is raised by wolves in the jungle, only to become a pawn in the power struggles of wilderness politics. The Lowdown: The dark, gritty reboot of the 1967 animated film that nobody wanted or needed, The Jungle Book is interesting to look at but lacks the heart of the original…

In Brief: It’s hard to imagine now, but when Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession came out back in 1980, it was a very big deal. The film was the talk of the film publications of the era. Not only was it Nicolas Roeg’s first film since The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), but it was the film…

The Story: A failed American business consultant facing a midlife crisis tries to sell a new teleconferencing technology to the King of Saudi Arabia. The Lowdown:  A surprisingly heartfelt and restrained exploration of some very weighty topics, A Hologram for the King offers an engaging perspective on American exceptionalism in a global sociological context without…

In Brief: If there must be film versions of Mr. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet — and, since the movies have been churning them out in various forms for 116 years, it seems we must — then Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version is as good as any and better than most. It should, however, be noted that…

In Brief: Often called the "godfather of the New Wave" (a title he ultimately rejected), Jean-Pierre Melville is a hit-and-miss acquired taste — something of which The Army of Shadows (1969) is a perfect example. Coming right after his stylistic masterpiece Le Samourai (1967), Shadows is downright ordinary. Oh, it's well-made, well-acted and certainly solid. But…

The Story: Sci-fi allegory about a child with special powers. The Lowdown: Impressive, immersive tale that is almost equal parts rewarding and enigmatic, working on several levels at once. That it can't quite manage the ending it aims for doesn't matter as much as it might.

The Story: A man’s corpse is resurrected and turned into a cyborg super-soldier by his implausibly attractive scientist wife, after which he kills everyone in his path on a quest to rescue her from the telekinetic albino oligarch that abducted her. Seriously, that’s what this is about. The Lowdown: Ninety minutes of nausea-inducing shaky cam…

The Story: Documentary about Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold. The Lowdown: Appealing, pleasant, thoroughly entertaining portrait of the food critic and the city he covers.

The Story: After running afoul of the law, a former billionaire tries to rehabilitate her image with the help of a former underling. The Lowdown: Another noisy, grating comedic vehicle for Melissa McCarthy. Even if you enjoy her onscreen presence, there’s little to latch onto with something so idiotically obnoxious.

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: An investment broker takes an unusual path to dealing with the death of his wife in a car wreck. The Lowdown: A surprising movie that manages to blend warmth, satire, casual absurdity and melodrama into a satisfying whole. One of the most appealing films to come our way this year.

The Story: A Chicago family comes into money through illicit means and moves to a Beverly Hills McMansion just in time to encounter the premise from a completely different movie. The Lowdown: The Purge-meets-The Beverly Hillbillies-meets incomprehensible inanity; this is a very bad film that’s at least strange enough to keep things interesting in places.

The Story: Tense war drama about the moral implications of drone warfare. The Lowdown: Effective, often powerful drama  — that perhaps tends to try too hard not to take sides — that benefits from splendid performances by Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Barkhad Abdi and, especially, the late Alan Rickman in a final performance worthy of…

The Story: A teacher, in trouble after discussing Jesus in her classroom, turns to a passionate lawyer to save her job and stick up for her faith. The Lowdown: More faith-based proselytizing, this time styled as a dreary, languid courtroom drama. Solely for the converted.

In Brief: Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944) — or to give it its full title, The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France — marked Olivier's directorial debut, the first Technicolor production of a Shakespeare play and the only time a Shakespeare play has been used as…

In Brief: The movie year of 1941 was probably the best one that director George Waggner — a solid craftsman, if not a particularly inspired one — ever had. In rapid succession, he knocked out Horror Island, Man Made Monster and The Wolf Man. There’s no doubt that the last in the list is his best known, but, in all…

The Story: Disjointed biopic of country singer Hank Williams. The Lowdown: Tom Hiddleston is terrific in the lead role, while Elizabeth Olsen lends good support in this handsome film. Unfortunately, the film housing these performances has one of the most poorly structured scripts of all time.