Movie Reviews

The Story: A young woman marries a strange man and discovers that life with him and his sister in the family mansion isn't what she'd hoped for. The Lowdown: Guillermo del Toro's gothic horror, haunted house shocker — perhaps the most visually striking film of the year — is in a class by itself. A…

The Story: The assorted monsters from R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books get loose, causing kid-friendly mayhem. The Lowdown: It's better than you probably think, and children should love it. It looks good, is pleasant enough, but anything more than that — probably not.

The Story: Two children become convinced that their mother — wrapped in bandages following cosmetic surgery — isn't their mother. The Lowdown: Highly regarded on the festival circuit it may be, but this is a slow, unpleasant thriller with the most transparent "twist" of all time.

The Story: A New Jersey police detective dying from cancer bands together with her domestic partner to fight bureaucratic idiocy for justice, equality and legal recognition of their relationship.  The Lowdown: A capable cast fails to elevate a weak script in this attempt to preach to the choir.

The Story: Fact-based story of Cold War politics and espionage. The Lowdown: Solid old-fashioned moviemaking with everything that implies. Sure, it's well-made and it does what it sets out to do, but there's an inescapable sense of ossification.

In Brief: Perhaps no series in the history of movies ever went to hell as fast as the seemingly endless spawn of Gojira — or Godzilla as it came to be known in the West. Oh, sure, the immediate cheapjack sequel Godzilla Raids Again (1955) — which made it to the U.S. in 1959 as Gigantis the Fire Monster — was at…

In Brief: For the Halloween season, the Asheville Film Society has booked — from a new DCP rendering of the movie — William Friedkin's horror classic The Exorcist (1973). Friedkin’s film treatment of William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel about a young girl possessed by a demon originally seemed more an “event” than a great movie. Its…

The Story: An attempt at creating an origins story for Peter Pan. The Lowdown: A deeply disappointing film from an incredibly talented filmmaker. It sometimes works. More often, it doesn't. It's mostly watchable, but it's a lot of fuss over not much. Think of it as Peter Pan: The YA Years.

In Brief: The Brood (1979) may reasonably be considered the first of David Cronenberg’s mature films. It’s undeniably the first that afforded him the presence of two actual stars — Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. It’s also the first that is clearly about more than it seems, which only serves to make its excursions into Cronenbergian…

In Brief: If Crimes and Misdemeanors isn’t Woody Allen’s best blending of drama and comedy, it’s most certainly in the running (and beats the pants off his 2005 white-bread, wholly dramatic reworking of similar material, Match Point). It may also be the filmmaker’s most intensely Jewish work. Jewishness, of course, is rarely far removed from any Allen film,…

In Brief: Rudolph Valentino's penultimate film, Cobra (1925), is something of an oddity. Cobra (no, the title doesn't refer to Valentino) is essentially a drawing room romantic drama done in the typical Hollywood style of the era. The camera is nailed down (the one shot where it moves is startling just because it feels out…

In Brief: With International House, the Asheville Film Society celebrates not its star, its strangeness, nor its Pre-Code freedom, but rather the birthday (the 133rd) of horror icon Bela Lugosi, who here (despite his billing) had probably his best non-horror role. A friend of mine once summed up A. Edward Sutherland’s International House (1933) by running down the cast list and…

The Story: A man who loses his home in the housing bust goes to work for the crooked realtor who evicted him. The Lowdown: It's powerful, and it's still timely, but 99 Homes is also obvious and increasingly less compelling as it goes on.

The Story: Uncompromising account of a child soldier in an African war.  The Lowdown: Stark, powerful, finely crafted, but inclined to redundancy in its excessive length. Still, its unflinching portrait of the unthinkable is unforgettable.

In Brief: The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968) is a surprisingly pleasant early William Friedkin film that (like any number of movies editor Ralph Rosenblum tried to take credit for “saving”) works far better than so many films trying to depict the 1920s. Oh, the music isn’t exactly period, and the sleaze factor of burlesque is…

The Story: The thoroughly preposterous — but true — story of the battle over possession of an amputated foot. The Lowdown: Every bit as strange as it sounds, the film is at once very funny, yet strangely moving and even tragic.

In Brief: I first read about Paul Fejos’ Lonesome (1928) when I was in high school — a rather long time ago. I don’t remember the book, but I do remember that the film sounded like something I wanted to see, just from the story. I’ve always been drawn to movies with simple stories that are built on…

The Story: A dramatic retelling of Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The Lowdown: A glossy, but unnecessary, retread of a story told more effectively (and affectingly) seven years ago.

In Brief: Highly regarded, but little loved, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960) was a title the director himself seems to have had little fondness for. I tend to agree with that. The fact that it was successfully marketed on the exploitation value of its story — rape and revenge — should perhaps tell you…

The Story: Two gamblers team up for a road trip to a big game in New Orleans. The Lowdown: Edging close to greatness, this is a very good — albeit rather sad — character study about friendship, addiction and the hope for redemption — or the next closest thing. The performances of Ben Mendelsohn and…

The Story: Matt Damon as a man stranded on Mars fighting for survival and hoping for a rescue.  The Lowdown: A grandly entertaining film on every level. It's smart, funny, suspenseful, clever and beautifully acted. Is it profound? Not really, but it's such great entertainment that it hardly matters.