| 1. |
|
04/13/12 |
Outstanding |
"Occupied Paris, as evoked by Ismaël Ferroukhi, is an unsettling mix of life-as-usual and sudden moments of terror... The final key ingredient in this splendidly acted story is the music..." |
| 2. |
|
03/23/12 |
Very Good |
" 'Painting is another form of thinking,' Richter says, and as you watch him in action, you can actually glimpse his mind buzzing away." |
| 3. |
|
12/10/10 |
Very Good |
"It's hard to say whether the film will convert viewers who aren't already Merritt-ophiles.... for those who know his work, there's plenty to savor." |
| 4. |
|
10/22/10 |
Good (Not Great) |
"Lixin Fan, handling his own cinematography, shoots with such a painterly eye that he almost undermines the social critique he's making." |
| 5. |
|
08/13/10 |
Outstanding |
"...follow-up to 1998's 'Happiness,' dials down the gross-out factor of the earlier movie. But it still maintains Solondz's knife-edge balance between psychodrama and satire..." |
| 6. |
|
08/13/10 |
Very Good |
"...a wildly imaginative if erratically executed urban fable. Toilet humor is one thing -- toilet hallucinations quite another." |
| 7. |
|
06/18/10 |
Very Good |
"...leans more toward moody mystery than fanciful whimsy in this unlikely tale, shot in misty blue-green colors that make its Irish coastal setting look both beautiful and desolate." |
| 8. |
|
10/09/09 |
Outstanding |
"...has some turbulent emotional currents at play beneath its quiet surface.... masterful family drama..." |
| 9. |
|
08/21/09 |
Very Good |
"...an informative documentary revealing how decades of war and years of Taliban repression have fallen to the wayside, however briefly, as Kabul's answer to 'American Idol' seduces a violence-weary Afghanistan." |
| 10. |
|
08/14/09 |
Outstanding |
"...rises high above standard biopic..." |
| 11. |
|
07/24/09 |
Outstanding |
"...a Czech rural idyll -- beautifully shot, superbly acted and with thorny complications." |
| 12. |
|
07/03/09 |
Outstanding |
"...engages the eye as much as the mind. Here's a canny director who doesn't let technical prowess overwhelm his sure, resourceful sense of human drama and character." |
| 13. |
|
06/19/09 |
Outstanding |
"...isn't just about food. It's about suppressed information.... exposes conflicts of interest between big-time U.S. producers of food and those who are supposed to regulate them (too often the same people, the filmmakers contend)." |
| 14. |
|
05/29/09 |
Outstanding |
"...a wry and measured portrait of family inheritance -- and the necessity, sometimes, of discarding the past... The final result couldn't be more thoughtfully calibrated or observed." |