Movie Reviews

In Brief: The Asheville Film Society's Budget Big Screen series makes its triumphant return with one of the strangest (and best, in my opinion) films ever made – Alejandro Jodorowsky's magnum opus, The Holy Mountain. The Chilean-born writer-director-actor had come to the attention of John Lennon and Yoko Ono when his previous film, El Topo, played at the Elgin Theater…

In Brief: If you were around in 1967 when it first appeared, you’ll possibly remember that Bo Widerberg’s Elvira Madigan was not only something of a hit (in art-film terms anyway), but that it caused a positive mania for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21. If the former can be understood, then the latter falls into place,…

The Story: A young orphan overcomes trauma with the help of his surrogate family. The Lowdown: A rare children's film that respects its target audience's intelligence, dealing with mature themes in an accessible way and offering hope while avoiding saccharinity.

The Story: The lives of a handful of stray cats who live on the streets of Instanbul, and the people who encounter them everyday. The Lowdown: A gentle, quiet documentary that's a bit smarter and more affecting than your run-of-the-mill nature documentary.

The Story: A group of scientists and a military escort explore a mysterious uncharted island in the South Pacific in the final days of the Vietnam War. The title should give you some indication of what they find. The Lowdown: A fun, if not overwhelmingly thought provoking, giant monster film that promises bigger (pun intended) things on the…

The Story: A curmudgeon must reexamine his long-held assumptions when confronted with a tangible reminder of his first romance and its involvement in the tragic death of a close friend. The Lowdown: An interesting concept underserved by a truncated narrative and a relatively unlikeable protagonist — but largely redeemed by excellent performances from Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling.

In Brief: Victor Halperin’s White Zombie is a film outside the realm of normal filmmaking. It was odd in 1932, with reviewers at odds over whether it was some kind of art film or a horror film — and in both cases either loving it or absolutely hating it. Most independent productions of its era are pretty terrible.…

In Brief: As with many of Ingmar Bergman's late-period works, Cries and Whispers was a divisive film on its release in 1972, and might still be just as divisive today. Also indicative of Bergman's auteurial signature is the film's incomparable conflation of beauty and brutality, and this may well be one of the most difficult Bergman films to watch.…

In Brief: One of my favorite Robert Mitchum performances, and one of the best ever portrayals of Raymond Chandler's character Philip Marlowe, Dick Richards' 1973 Farewell, My Lovely holds its own against the best nostalgia noir of the '70s, Chinatown included. Marlowe is the role Mitchum was born to play, and even in his late 50s he fits the bill…

The Story: In 2029, a worse-for-wear Wolverine is confronted with a twelve-year-old daughter created from his genetic material, and must help her evade dangerous pursuers on her way to sanctuary in Canada. The Lowdown: Logan has always been the best there is at what he does, and now there's finally a film that does him justice.

The Story: A group of Jewish children hidden in Vichy France must outrun the encroaching Axis powers in the final days of World War II. The Lowdown: A movingly sentimental portrait of a child's experience of incomprehensible strife, and a great way to start a conversation with kids about the significance of a tragic chapter in world history.

The Story: A teacher's wife is assaulted, leading him on a dark quest to find the culprit. The Lowdown: Asghar Farhadi continues to mine low-key, personal stories for incredible drama with the help of two outstanding performances from Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti.

The Story: An African prince marries an office worker in 1940s London, and their struggle to defend their marriage against overwhelming personal and political opposition has broad-reaching international ramifications. The Lowdown: A rousing story of defiance in the face of bigotry that boasts excellent performances and a moving message.

The Story: A man washes ashore on a deserted island, only to find his plans for escape thwarted by a large, red turtle. The Lowdown: A gentle meditation on family, love and life that demands an appropriate emotional connection to get the most out of.

The Story: A recently dumped ex ends up at a table of misfits and weirdos at a wedding. The Lowdown: A potentially interesting set-up soon dips into the world of cinematic clichés and flat, uninspired comedy.

The Story: A high school senior killed in a car accident after she leaves a party must repeat her last day until she presumably learns some sort of karmic lesson. The Lowdown: Combines Hollywood's current affinity for rehashing old ideas and adapting young adult novels into one extraordinarily lazy, low budget package that might appeal only to…

In Brief: There’s a certain amount of confusion about The Golem made by Paul Wegener (who also plays the creature) and Carl Boese in Germany in 1920. It is neither Wegener’s 1915 version (considered lost), nor is it a remake of that film. It is its own beast — a story detailing the creation of the Golem by…

In Brief: Director Louis Malle's attention to performance is on full dispalay in this thoroughly '90s update of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, retiming Malle with his My Dinner with Andre stars Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory for the first time in ten years. It's a remarkable deconstruction of one of Chekhov's most frequently revisited works, with a gutted theatre…

In Brief: If it weren’t for some tepid and not very believable action scenes with Frank Sinatra, John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate (1962) might just be the best political thriller ever made. Even with those reservations, this story about communist brainwashing of Korean War soldiers going hand-in-hand with homegrown U.S. perfidy is heady stuff. It must…

In Brief: The Gold Rush marked Chaplin’s first Charlie Chaplin film to be released by his own company, United Artists, and was his most ambitious project to date (1925). And it remained one of his personal favorites. He went so far as to recut, score and narrate a reissue version in 1942. Today, it battles City Lights and Modern Times for…

The Story: An aging father tries to reconnect with his uptight adult daughter, whose resistance prompts him to insinuate himself into her life through a series of increasingly strange gestures. The Lowdown: Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? I'm not quite sure — but I can say with absolute certainty that it's great.