Category Archives: Drama

War Horse review

Directed by Steven SpielbergWritten by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, from the book by Michael MorpurgoSitting in a mostly empty movie theatre watching Spielberg's new epic movie, I playfully imagined what War Horse would be like as directed by Terrence Malick, probably because I just reviewed 2011 and Malick's The Tree of Life featured prominently.…Read More

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) review

Directed by David Fincher Written by Steven Zaillian from the Stieg Larsson novel It's been a bit hard to judge the cultural excitement around this movie. The novels remain huge international bestsellers, and in Canada and elsewhere in the world besides the US, we've made the Swedish film adaptations of the Millennium trilogy a hit franchise.…Read More

The Artist review

Written and directed by Michael Hazanavicius Here's a movie I saw in the perfect environment: an ancient rep cinema full of Boxing Day cineastes who lined up on the slushy sidewalk for the pleasure of seeing a silent movie. I'm sure my experience was improved by the surroundings and the audience. And the film? Well,…Read More

Young Adult review

Directed by Jason ReitmanWritten by Diablo CodyIn a high school reunion movie (it's a genre, you know) Mavis Gary would be the antagonist, the lady who was the mean girl as a teen and is still a bitch 20 years later—even though she's by many societal standards a success. The closest we've seen to her…Read More

Margin Call review

Written and directed by JC ChandorMargin Call arrived in cinemas near me with not much fanfare, which is a shame as it's all kinds of good.It's the summer of 2008 at some Lehmann Brothers-esque New York investment bank, full of morally bankrupt fat cats. Well, maybe it's not as simple as that, but it's hard…Read More

The Descendants review

Directed by Alexander PayneScreenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash from a novel by Kaui Hart HemmingsGeorge Clooney is Matt King. Matt is the trustee of a large parcel of land in Hawaii, a place that seems a whole lot like paradise despite Matt's voiceover telling us that everyone's life has rough patches, even…Read More

Melancholia review

Written and directed by Lars von TrierI've said it before and will again: von Trier is a provocateur. That he's from Denmark, my mother's homeland, the most prominent director to emerge from 1995's Dogma movement—a rigorous aesthetic that he's long since shirked—makes his films interesting to me, but I rarely want to see them again.…Read More

Martha Marcy May Marlene review

Written and directed by Sean DurkinMarcy May (Elizabeth Olsen) is one of many young people working at a farm in what looks like upstate New York. We notice it's a bit weird from the get-go: the women prepare the meals and sit outside the dining room while the men eat first. Then the women get…Read More

The Rum Diary review

Directed by Bruce RobinsonWritten by Robinson, adapting the Hunter S. Thompson novelThis is telling: two posters from The Rum Diary, the brand new movie starring Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, the hero of Hunter S. Thompson's Puerto Rico-set novel. There's this onewhich hides Depp but plays up hotel-room carnage. Playing to fans of The Hangover,…Read More