Less than three years after “Tree of Life” and his Palme D'Or win at Cannes, Terrence Malick is back with “To the Wonder,” a film-as-poem whose secret only he knows, apparently. At some point during the time lapsed Malick’s creativity and inspiration went out the window. In fact, with this vaguely sensory, visual fog of a film, Malick, convinced of his own genius and assured of making ... more >
MOVIES | IN THEATERS NOW
Emperor
Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Fox
Directed by Peter Webber
It’s been an interesting few months for history on film. A series of releases have raised the ever-present question of historical depiction. One film, "Zero Dark Thirty," was threatened with Congressional investigations over its portrayal of torture. "Argo" takes vast liberties with the Iranian hostage crisis, but no one except the Iranians seems to mind. No film is quite as dependent on ... more >
Don’t stop believin’: Everyman’s journey
Ramona Diaz’s Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey is the story of Arnel Pineda, the Filipino singing prodigy who at age forty was plucked from total obscurity in his native Manila and recruited to join his all-time favorite band Journey. In quick-cut, high-gloss concert video fashion, Diaz takes us through Pineda’s gradual emergence from spastic, shaky newcomer to certified rock god ... more >
Five Broken Cameras | OSCARS
All told, no other conflict has been committed to film more than the Israelo-Palestinian one. This glut of images characterizes "5 broken cameras," a documentaries-within-the-documentary produced over a period of five years by a Palestinian amateur which may yet earn the best nod a filmmaker could hope for this weekend at the Academy Awards. The son of a peasant--a gardener and farmer--Emad ... more >
Identity Thief
Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy and Robert Patrick
Directed by Seth Gordon
Poor Jason Bateman. Nothing good ever happens to him. He doesn’t get to be Seth Rogen dishing out one liners. His form of comedy involves being the average guy taking abuse––punches, stomps, bites, and the rest of it. No one takes a kick to the groin quite like Jason Bateman. He’s a little like a modern Jack Lemmon, the normal man beset by his circumstances. In “Identity Thief ... more >
Side Effects
Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
In addition to being his supposedly last theatrical film director Steven Soderbergh, for a while, would have you believe “Side Effects” could be his best—a complex thriller about psychiatric drugs—only to lose its focus almost entirely and make you wish screenwriter Scott Z. Burns took a shot of Ritalin. Martin and Emily (Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara) are a New York couple with ... more >
The sorcerer and the white snake
Jet Li, Shengyi Huang and Raymond Lam
Directed by Tony Ching
“The Sorcerer and the White Snake” does what so many fairytale romances--“Twilight” and “Warm Bodies," to name a few--don't: it goes big. This 2011 Hong Kong film by Chinese choreographer and action director Ching Siu-Tung a.k.a "Tony Ching," recounts the story of a demon--actually a white snake with the seductive head and shoulders of a woman (Eva Huang)--who falls in love with a poor ... more >
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