Movie Reviews

Jean (Vincent Rottiers) assists his ailing father, the artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet), in his studio on the French Riviera.

Arts

A Film So Sumptuous, 'Renoir' Himself Might Have Helped Out

7:55pm March 29, 2013

by Bob Mondello

The slow, silky pace of Gilles Bourdos' biopic Renoir might burden a lesser subject. But the beauty of the cinematography suggests the aesthetic of the Impressionist master, lending the whole film a surreally beautiful air. (Recommended)

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Rodney Ascher, director of the experimental documentary Room 237, leads an exploration of differing interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's classic horror film The Shining.

Arts

Hunting For Secrets In 'The Shining's' Room 237

2:05pm March 29, 2013

by John Powers

A new documentary looks at obsessive fans of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. These fanatics look for hidden meanings in the movie, and while some of their theories sound outrageous, it's too simple to call such thinking deranged.

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Movie Review: 'Gimme The Loot'

11:14am March 29, 2013

by Kenneth Turan

Gimme The Loot is a new independent film that's had a charmed life, including winning the best narrative prize at South by Southwest and an appearance at Cannes. The comedy is written and director by Adam Leon.

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Aaron Eckhart and Ashley Judd as the president and first lady in Olympus Has Fallen.

Arts

With Vengeance And Violence, 'Olympus Has Fallen' Flat

1:59pm March 22, 2013

by David Edelstein

This macho action film starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman is a vigilante fantasy about terrorists and turncoats invading the United States. It's a popular genre, but critic David Edelstein says he's tired of the American addiction to these tropes.

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Ginger & Rosa (starring Alice Englert and Elle Fanning) was directed by Sally Potter, who is perhaps best known for her 1992 film Orlando.

Arts

Three New Films Examine What It Means When Girls Act Out

5:37pm March 15, 2013

by David Edelstein

Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa and Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills are wildly different films, yet they share a common impulse: to demonstrate indelibly how for girls, behaving outrageously is still a political act.

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James Franco stars as the Wizard of Oz before the Wizard meets Dorothy in Oz the Great and Powerful.

Arts

'Oz': Neither Great Nor Powerful

1:34pm March 08, 2013

by David Edelstein

There are three reasons to see this prequel to the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz: the trio of witches played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. But James Franco, who stars as the wizard-in-the-making, disappoints — and the film as a whole is a bit snoozy.

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A film still of New York City from 1952's This Is Cinerama. The film was meant to introduce audiences to the new Cinerama widescreen.

Arts

Cinerama Brought The Power Of Peripheral Vision To The Movies

2:51pm March 04, 2013

by Lloyd Schwartz

In the 1950s, as movie directors were trying to offer TV watchers something they couldn't get on a small screen, Cinerama films threw three simultaneous images onto a curved screen to create peripheral vision. Two classic Cinerama films — This Is Cinerama and Windjammer — are now out on DVD.

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Nicole Kidman (left) and Mia Wasikowska star as Evelyn and India Stoker in Park Chan-wook's new thriller.

Arts

A Disappointing Thriller Channels Hitchcock And Bram 'Stoker'

2:26pm March 01, 2013

by David Edelstein

The film is ripe with a creepy-crawly feel that would be affecting if the tone weren't so arch. Directed by Park Chan-wook, written by Wentworth Miller and starring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode, Stoker is a vile little chamber horror, says critic David Edelstein.

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Movie Review: 'Jack The Giant Slayer'

6:58am March 01, 2013

by Kenneth Turan

The story of Jack and his beanstalk has been filmed innumerable times by people as diverse as Gene Kelly, Chuck Jones and the Three Stooges. While he's been through the Hollywood shuffle before, there's never been a Jack tale that's delivered so little pleasure for so many dollars.

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Gael Garcia Bernal stars as an advertising man in Chile under Pinochet in the 2012 film No, which is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Arts

Voting Pinochet Out Was More Than Just A Yes Or 'No'

1:40pm February 20, 2013

by John Powers

In the Chilean film No, which is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, a young ad man devises a campaign to vote the dictator Augusto Pinochet out of office using rainbows and catchy theme songs.

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