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Review: W.E.

Nobody does vulgarity like Madonna, especially when she's being tasteful, as in her directorial debut of this grotesque biopic.
Madonna's directorial debut
By PETER KEOUGH | February 10, 2012

Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Live Action

The Oscar nominees for Live Action Shorts come down to five conventional narratives.
The Oscar nominees for Live Action Shorts come down to five conventional narratives.
By GERALD PEARY | February 10, 2012

Review: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

I liked the tiny elephants and the Rock bouncing berries off his pecs, but Brad Peyton's sequel is as bad as the 2008 original.
Brad Peyton's sequel
By PETER KEOUGH | February 10, 2012

The best films of 2011 are not the ballyhooed

The films this year were kind of like the current field of Republican presidential candidates: some are entertaining, but there's no clear frontrunner, and there's more attention on the flashiest and least substantial than on the more thoughtful and genu
Also-rans
By PETER KEOUGH | December 23, 2011

Review: Young Adult

A baby, a high school, and esoteric pop culture references once again figure prominently — albeit less glibly — in director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody's first re-teaming since Juno.
Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody's first re-teaming since Juno
By ALICIA POTTER | December 16, 2011

Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

How do you film Stephenie Meyer's unfilmable Breaking Dawn ?
Unfilmable and inscrutable
By ANN LEWINSON | November 25, 2011

Review: Hugo

Martin Scorsese goes Spielberg with Hugo, as dumbed-down as the shortening of the title of Brian Selznick's Caldecott winner implies.
A valentine to early cinema
By ANN LEWINSON | November 25, 2011

Review: Passione

Charles Aznavour and Édith Piaf, move over!
John Turturro tours his beloved city for this documentary
By GERALD PEARY | November 25, 2011

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

"It's complicated," says Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) early on in this last installment of his epic as he tries to explain some obscure plot element.
The final chapter
By PETER KEOUGH | July 15, 2011

Review: Project Nim

Once regarded as cuddly, chimpanzees seem downright demonic following the incident in Connecticut in which a pet ape destroyed somebody's face.
Absurd and sad
By PETER KEOUGH | July 15, 2011

Review: Horrible Bosses

After two comedies, it's clear Seth Gordon is good at making . . . documentaries.
Overplayed quirks
By BRETT MICHEL | July 15, 2011

Review: Larry Crowne

Coming 15 years after That Thing You Do!, Tom Hanks's second, confident outing as a feature director finds him co-writing a lighter-than-air trifle with old family friend Nia Vardalos, who's made nothing but awful films since initially charming audience
A lighter-than-air trifle
By BRETT MICHEL | July 08, 2011

Review: Just Like Us

This brainchild of Egyptian-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed is basically a collection of his home movies as he travels from the US alongside comics like Maz Jobrani and Whitney Cummings to perform stand-up in Dubai, Beirut, Cairo, Riyadh, and back.
Leave the directing to someone else
By BRETT MICHEL | July 08, 2011

Review: Page One

Watching Carr work those stories reveals little about the media revolution, and nothing about its effects on the Times.
Get me rewrite
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 01, 2011

Review: Cars 2

Alongside such Pixar hits as Monsters, Inc , Toy Story , and The Incredibles , Cars 2 comes off like a Yugo in a lot full of Porsches.
A Yugo in a lot full of Porsches
By TOM MEEK | July 01, 2011

Review: Bad Teacher

Both Bad Santa and the Bad Lieutenants (Keitel and Cage) were really bad, but they were entertaining. Cameron Diaz's Bad Teacher, Elizabeth, is neither.
All talk and no action
By BRETT MICHEL | July 01, 2011

Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Maybe 3D does have a purpose; it makes Michael Bay's third Transformers movie worth watching.
3D adds an illusion of depth
By PETER KEOUGH | July 01, 2011

Review: Buck

Ostensibly, Cindy Meehl's documentary may focus on the exploits of horse whisperer Buck Brannaman, but it also relates a tale of perseverance.

By TOM MEEK | June 24, 2011

Review: The Last Mountain

As Bill Haney's infuriating, straightforward documentary argues, the coal industry is not only poisoning our air and water but our democracy as well.

By PETER KEOUGH | June 24, 2011

Review: Jig

Sue Bourne's documentary about Irish stepdancing in general and the 2010 Irish Dance World Championships in particular treads a formulaic path.

By JEFFREY GANTZ | June 17, 2011

Review: Queen of the Sun

Bees are in trouble, and their livelihood has major implications on the human race

By MICHAEL C. WALSH | June 17, 2011

Review: Submarine

Here the eloquent misfit is Oliver Tate, a cynical wise guy whose inept horniness competes with his existential anxiety. .

By PETER KEOUGH | June 17, 2011

Review: The Trip

In his brilliant "adaptation" of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy , Michael Winterbottom created a self-reflexive parodic movie of the quintessential self-reflexive parodic novel .

By PETER KEOUGH | June 17, 2011

Review: Beautiful Boy

Is there an audience for this finely acted, sensitively directed film of unhappiness and sorrow?

By GERALD PEARY | June 17, 2011

Review: The Art of Getting By

Freddie Highmore plays the acutely self-conscious Manhattan prep schooler whose pivotal senior year is recounted in director-writer Gavin Wiesen's earnest, but weak, debut.

By BETSY SHERMAN | June 17, 2011

Review: Bride Flight

Sombogaart contrives to place the would-be couple in front of a mirror on the plane, her in a wedding gown, him standing behind her, reflecting a life that cannot be.

By BRETT MICHEL | June 11, 2011

Beginners revives the neurotic comedy

Beginners adds a dash of New Wave style and a dose of genuine pathos to a decidedly Allenish romp.
Anna Hall
By PETER KEOUGH | June 10, 2011

Abrams's latest is not so Super

Arriving on a wave of secrecy that the projects of J.J. Abrams have become known for, Super 8 turns out to contain hardly any secrets at all.
8 and a half
By BRETT MICHEL | June 10, 2011

Review: The Hangover Part II

Amnesia might be the key to enjoying Todd Phillips's reprise of his 2009 hit comedy, since it follows by rote the formula set up in the original.

By PETER KEOUGH | May 27, 2011

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

It's been four years since the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy ended, and Jerry Bruckheimer hasn't produced a hit in that time — which is the sole reason On Stranger Tides is beaching itself in theaters now.

By BRETT MICHEL | May 27, 2011

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