The Wall is as lean and economical as a war movie can be. There is one location, no musical score and three speaking parts, only two of which come from actors that appear onscreen. The film is 81 minutes, and it feels like it — a refreshing break from the increasing bloat of studio actioners. Set in a tumbleweedy, post-“Mission Accomplished” Iraqi oilfield in 2007, The Wall … [Read more...]
‘A Quiet Passion’: A compelling study of artistic vision, personal suffering
“I wish I could feel as others do, but it is not possible,” says a teenage Emily Dickinson. She’s standing alone in front of the headmistress of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, in the opening scene of Terence Davis’ haunting A Quiet Passion. The rest of her classmates have, at the headmistress’ request, divided into two camps: Those ready to be good Christians and be saved … [Read more...]
Misguided direction makes ‘The Dinner’ none too edible
The structure of Oren Moverman’s The Dinner is, appropriately enough, prandial. It begins, roughly, with an aperitif, and concludes shortly after a digestif at an uber-luxurious prix fixe restaurant, the sort of dimly lit culinary castle where a wine is selected for each course, where the waiters explain the provenance of the garnish, and where the bill costs as much as an … [Read more...]
‘Norman’: A hollow man gets an empty character study
Norman Oppenheimer, Richard Gere’s title character in writer-director Joseph Cedar’s new movie, is a walking LinkedIn, if LinkedIn had defective code. Norman lives to connect people. Self-servingly curious, he’s a relentless interrogator of everyone he meets — he’s the mosquito that won’t leave you alone — until his marks end up accepting his card, or a bribe, or a dinner … [Read more...]
Visual poetry gives ‘Lost City of Z’ its epic passport
Depending on whom you ask, director James Gray (We Own the Night, The Immigrant) is either his generation’s Kubrick — a dogged, uncompromising auteur of narcotized mood pieces — or a ponderous, inert storyteller with an elegant camera eye. Whatever your opinion of the polarizing filmmaker, he’s an unlikely choice for The Lost City of Z (pronounced “zed”), an adaptation of … [Read more...]
Kore-eda’s ‘After the Storm’ a deft look at a man adrift
Long championed as his generation’s Yasujiro Ozu, Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking, Like Father Like Son) makes grown-up films about flawed families, often centering on how we deal with death and other life changes. He’s not an Ozu mimic — he doesn’t share the late master’s formal rigor — but both directors were/are wise beyond their years. They’re both particularly … [Read more...]
‘Zookeeper’s Wife’: Heroism amid the animals in uniforms
World War II movies never went away, but they’re especially en vogue now. This young year has already welcomed at least three on the art-house circuit — Land of Mine, Fanny’s Journey, Alone in Berlin — while 2016 saw its share of Oscar successes (Hacksaw Ridge), blockbuster failures (Allied) and projects in between (Anthropoid), to say nothing of the masterly, divisive 2015 … [Read more...]
‘Personal Shopper’: An unsettling search for (a) spirit
Since the dawn of cinema, movies have been trying to visualize and elucidate the paranormal: This is a vampire, a demon, a ghost, a loved one visiting from the Other Side. This is how they act, this is what they want and — most importantly for audiences seeking closure — this is how they can be defeated/assuaged/comforted. Olivier Assayas’ polarizing Cannes sensation … [Read more...]
‘Women’s Balcony’ too pedestrian to bring its message home
The only bona fide action scene in The Women’s Balcony occurs within in the first 10 minutes. It’s set during an orthodox bar mitzvah in Jerusalem, but the trappings will seem familiar to anyone who’s attended one of these ceremonies in Aventura or Brooklyn or anywhere else: the gregarious extended families, the long-winded sermons, the ancient rabbi, the nerve-rattled … [Read more...]
‘Table 19’ leaves cast at the altar of familiar formula
Films about weddings are really budget-conscious disaster movies. In the annals of American comedy in particular, nuptials proceeding without a hitch are as likely as Martians officiating the vows. Multi-thousand-dollar dresses will be ripped and torn, the wedding entertainer will do something louche and embarrassing, a wayward cousin will make an ass of himself in his … [Read more...]