Movie Reviews

In Brief: The Thursday Horror Picture Show's second film in their tribute to Wes Craven is his often-overlooked and undervalued (and most political) film, The People Under the Stairs (1991). Because of their already-somewhat-outsider — even disreputable — status, it’s not that uncommon to find horror films pretty fearless in what they’ll explore in terms of subtext. Distributors…

The Story: A naive FBI agent is thrust into the corrupt world of the drug wars. The Lowdown: Despite being well-made and well-acted (and all the art house accolades it has received), this is essentially just another violent crime drama straining — and failing — to be a significant statement.

The Story: Straightforward, informational documentary on Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in her native Pakistan. The Lowdown: At once solid — as concerns the basic story — and disappointingly insubstantial — as concerns creating a portrait of its famous subject. It's mostly a thumbnail sketch, made reasonably worthwhile by the…

The Story: A bored, lonely retiree gets an internship at a Brooklyn startup. The Lowdown: A wandering, cheesy, maddeningly treacly tale of people feeling good about themselves. Pure pap.

In Brief: The Thursday Horror Picture Show starts its two-film tribute to the late Wes Craven with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), one of the classics of the modern horror film — and one of those that holds up best. It’s a film of surprising complexity — especially given its subtext about the fallout…

In Brief: Along with Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960), François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim (1962) is probably the essential French New Wave film — and it’s possibly even more essential than Breathless, since it had a greater impact on content. Where Godard’s film was essential in defining the style of the New Wave movement, Truffaut’s defined both style and theme…

The Story: South American cannibal tribe eats American environmentalists. The Lowdown: Trashy, boring, stupid — and on the fast track to worst movie of 2015.

The Story: Modern romance in classic terms with two characters who decide to be "just friends." The Lowdown: Smart, lively, funny, raunchy, blessed with two terrific leads and a writer-director with real style. The downside? It can't entirely escape its rom-com tendencies.

In Brief: Even in the early 1970s, when I was in high school and was really keen on Frank Capra because of his then-recent (and none-too-reliable, I later realized) autobiography, The Name Above the Title, I was never as fond of his Lost Horizon (1937) as I was supposed to be. Seeing it on a…

The Story: Dracula tries to bring out the vampire in his half-human grandson. The Lowdown: If you saw the first film, you know what to expect. It's a largely bland, extremely frantic animated horror comedy aimed at kids and Adam Sandler completists.

In Brief: Suri Krishnamma’s A Man of No Importance (1994) is one of those marvelous little movies that almost no one knows. It came out on VHS and laserdisc and was played frequently on the Sundance Channel back in the 1990s (with the unenticing plot synopsis, “A Dublin bus conductor tries to stage Oscar Wilde’s Salome in 1963”) and…

In Brief: In keeping with the practice of bringing newly restored classic films to Asheville, the Asheville Film Society has booked the brand new 4K restoration of Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) for one show only on Wed., Sept. 30. Judging by the eye-popping quality of these restorations, I fully expect this version to be revelatory…

The Story: Continuation of the events laid out in The Maze Runner.  The Lowdown: Effective, quirky and even downright strange, this sequel overcomes a bumpy start to become a minor delight of the fall season.

In Brief: Apart from having what is perhaps the greatest title ever, it’s quite a treat to see that the film itself not only lives up to that title, but even lives up to the trailer’s claim that director Kitamura is “visionary.” (If I had a nickel for every nonvisionary “visionary” who’s come down the pike…

The Story: Yet another recounting of the 1996 disaster on Everest that claimed the lives of eight climbers, at that time the greatest loss of life in the mountain’s history. The Lowdown: Shortchanging story in favor of spectacle, Everest should be seen in IMAX 3D or not at all.

In Brief: Often cited as W.C. Fields' best movie — or at least as the equal to 1934's It's a Gift — The Bank Dick (1940) is probably the purest expression of the great comedian's humor. Fields himself wrote the screenplay — under the preposterous name of Mahatma Kane Jeeves (a groan-worthy pun if ever there was one)…

The Story: The true story of a woman who’s kidnapped by a murderer and racist, and her attempts to be free of him. The Lowdown: More warmed-over sermonizing and flat drama undermined by treacly faith-based motives.

In Brief: The White Countess (2005) is the final film from the partnership, both professional and personal, of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant (who died before this was released). The film marks something of a return to form after their disastrous Le Divorce and tepid The Golden Bowl. In fact, this is probably the most satisfyingly realized…

In Brief: World Cinema is revisiting Alfonso Cuarón’s masterful Y Tu Mamá También (2001), a film I’ve written about several times. In the original review, I wrote in part: “Following two English-language films — Great Expectations and A Little Princess — director Alfonso Cuarón returned to Mexico to make this brilliant, challenging and unorthodox film. That’s obviously in part because Y…

The Story: Biopic on chess master Bobby Fischer centered around his 1972 championship match against Boris Spassky. The Lowdown: It may not be the most cinematically adventurous film, but this fact-based drama more than makes up for it with an intelligent script and exceptional performances.

The Story: Combination documentary and rom-com about Ravi Patel trying to find his ideal bride through the traditional marriage market. The Lowdown: It's nothing new under the sun, but this is a charmingly unassuming and often very funny little movie.