Tag Archives: drama

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015): Another Defiance of the Ban

The movie I am most looking forward to, coming soon to the New York Film Festival, with a release afterwards, is hounded/oppressed/gifted Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Taxi. Jafar Panahi, who directed angry funny award-winning films such as The White Balloon, … Continue reading

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Review: Ricki and the Flash (2015); dir. Jonathan Demme

Preamble: The trailers have been everywhere. For months. With minor tweaks here and there, the trailers give the impression that 1. they are telling the entire story of the movie and 2. the movie is probably not any good. Whoever … Continue reading

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Review: Samba (2015)

Treating immigration as somewhat slapstick may not be to everyone’s taste. And Samba doesn’t quite hold together. But Omar Sy is so appealing, he makes up for a lot of the script’s deficiencies. My review of Samba is now up … Continue reading

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Review: Mad Women (2015)

So far, I’m three for three this month at Ebert. Mad Women is awful. And not because it’s “shocking” but because it is bad. These bad movies are wearing me down. My review of Mad Women is now up at … Continue reading

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Review: Faith of Our Fathers (2015)

The latest Christian movie from the studio that brought out God Is Not Dead. Faith of Our Fathers is an explicitly Christian film, but that’s no excuse for its lackluster presentation or its bad acting. There are plenty of Christian … Continue reading

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Review: Eden (2015); directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Mia Hansen-Løve is such an interesting writer/director. Her latest feature, Eden, is really compelling. Check out her other films too (Tout est pardonne, Goodbye, First Love and Father of My Children. I love her stuff. It’s not really like anything … Continue reading

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Thunder Road (1958): Gearhead Heaven

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Review: Animals (2015)

It’s hard to make a drug-addict story feel new (partially because all drug addicts end up being relatively the same). But Animals is a confident first feature. Gorgeous Chicago cinematography. My review of Animals is up at Rogerebert.com.

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Review: Tribeca 2015: Meadowland

Meadowland, starring Luke Wilson and Olivia Wilde whose son vanishes from a gas station restroom (in the first 5 minutes of the film, so it’s not really a spoiler), is an effective and moving film about the aftermath of a … Continue reading

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Ebertfest 2015 Final Day: Ida, The Motel Life, 99 Homes

On Friday I moderated the Girlhood panel. On Saturday, I participated in the panel for Paweł Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winning Ida, and then right after that, I moderated the QA for the next film, The Motel Life. The funniest thing was that … Continue reading

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