Movie Reviews

Awkward At Times But 'Child 44' Can Hold Audiences' Attention

7:35am April 17, 2015

by Kenneth Turan

It's taken 7 years for the best-selling literary thriller Child 44 to make it to the screen. It's set in the Soviet Union in the last days of Josef Stalin and stars Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.

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Hadas Yaron and Luzer Twersky in Felix and Meira.

Arts

Two Unmoored Souls Too Gloomily Drawn In 'Felix And Meira'

5:03pm April 16, 2015

by Ella Taylor

To its credit, this story of an Orthodox Jewish woman struggling with her faith doesn't shortchange all it offers. But her encounter with a man who might offer a different future doesn't satisfy.

Arts

In 'Clouds Of Sils Maria,' An Actress Faces Past, Present And Future In An Instant

3:00pm April 13, 2015

by David Edelstein

Juliette Binoche plays an aging movie star who's about to appear in a play opposite an infamous young Hollywood actress. It's a hall of mirrors that sounds convoluted in the telling, but plays easily.

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Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche in Olivier Assayas' Clouds Of Sils Maria.

Arts

Women Ascend With Uncertainty In 'Clouds Of Sils Maria'

4:03pm April 10, 2015

by Tomas Hachard

The drama from director Olivier Assayas is the rare work that can hold opposite ideas in tension, refuse to fully resolve them, and be entirely satisfying nonetheless, says Tomas Hachard.

Sonoya Mizuno and Alicia Vikander in Ex-Machina.

Arts

Listening To The Ho-Hum Of The Machine

5:41pm April 09, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

Mark Jenkins says the new artificial intelligence film Ex Machina is diverting, but ultimately comes to a predictable and unsatisfying conclusion.

Arts

Bloody Yet Unsatisfying, 'Kill Me Three Times' Disappoints But Once

5:03pm April 09, 2015

by Andrew Lapin

Andrew Lapin says the bloody Australian black comedy wants to be a genre caper, but can't quite hit the right notes.

Olivia DeJonge, Georgie Henley, Willa Cuthrell, and Kara Hayward in The Sisterhood Of Night.

Arts

'The Sisterhood Of Night' Wonders What These Girls Are Up To

5:03pm April 09, 2015

by Ella Taylor

Ella Taylor says this heartfelt first feature appears at the beginning to be trafficking in cliches about teenage girls, but it ultimately asks questions about secrecy and the growth of public fear.

About Elly is "perched right on the fault line between modern thinking and Islamic tradition," says NPR film critic Bob Mondello.

Arts

Ties That Bind Meet Lies That Blind In 'About Elly'

6:23pm April 08, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews a film from Iran, about Iran — which hasn't been shown in Iran. It's called About Elly, and it's by director Asghar Farhadi, who won an Oscar for A Separation.

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"I could hear the gold whispering in the souls of these men," says Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado of a gold mine in Serra Pelada.

Photography, Misery And Beauty In 'The Salt Of The Earth'

8:07pm March 27, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews The Salt Of The Earth, a documentary directed by Wim Wenders about Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado.

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'The Breakfast Club' At 30: '80s Classic Still Relatable Today

8:07pm March 27, 2015

by Linda Holmes

The Breakfast Club turned 30 this year. A look at the John Hughes-directed movie and how teenagers today can still relate.

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