This Is the End In this screamingly funny comedy, Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, Million Dollar Baby) visits his pal Seth Rogen in Los Angeles. Jay hates LA, and what Jay hates even more is being dragged to James Franco’s house party. In part because Jonah Hill–who is not Jay’s friend–is Continue reading »
Violet & Daisy Geoffrey Fletcher, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Precious, makes his directorial debut with Violet & Daisy, a darkly comic thriller that opens with a bang. Violet (Alexis Bledel) tells Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) a bestiality joke as they are dressed up like nuns to deliver a pizza. The young girls Continue reading »
The Stories We Tell Actress-turned-director Sarah Polley’s extraordinary documentary about her own family considers how memories are recalled differently by people who share the same experience—showing what people think they know or think is true. It is best not to know in advance what Polley uncovers, because the experience of Continue reading »
At Any Price A terrific melodrama about family, masculinity, and the crisis of the American dream, At Any Price features a peculiar performance by Dennis Quaid as Henry Whipple, a corrupt Iowan farmer trying to maintain his homestead. Sure, he acts like a shark to make a land grab at Continue reading »
Kiss of the Damned An American-made Eurotrash vampire flick. Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume) meets screenwriter Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia) in a video store one night. She tells him she can’t be exposed to the sun, but he is smitten, and then later, bitten. When she asks him to chain her Continue reading »
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mira Nair’s slick adaptation of Moshin Hamid’s bestseller opens with a kidnapping taking place under the opening credits. Soon, Bobby (Liev Schreiber), a journalist, interviews Changez (Riz Ahmed) in an effort to gain information on the professor being held captive. What unfolds, however, is Changez’s American assimilation Continue reading »
Mud As the title character, a fugitive hiding out on an island–in a boat stuck in a tree, no less–Matthew McConaughey is like a snake charmer. He certainly hypnotizes Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) two 14 year-old boys who come to see the boat in the tree. Mud Continue reading »
