All Film Reviews
-
The Fifth Estate (R)
The political thriller has had a life of varying fortunes. In the ’70s, it enjoyed for a brief spell of privileged status at the box office, where Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor or Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men became two of that decade’s more successful major releases. In more recent times […]
-
Never Let Me Go (R)
Anybody who picked up a copy of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go after finding it on Time’s list of the best English novels written since 1923 would likely have been baffled after a hundred pages or so. They would have found the Booker Prize winning author had traded out the contemplative, first-person perspective of […]
-
Gravity (PG-13)
The life of St Christopher unfolds “a hell of a story” for the reader of the 13th century hagiography anthology, the Golden Legend. Also maintained as a significant feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar, the story of St Christopher was especially near to the hearts of those on pilgrimage to venerate relics or […]
-
How To Watch A Classic Film: The Wizard of Oz (G)
On my first day of Western Civ 257: Literature of Western Civilization in college, we started on Homer’s Odyssey and the professor claimed the text was “above criticism,” a statement which I found a bit precious. How is anything above criticism? Is Homer now become Holy Writ? The more history books I read, though, the […]
-
Billy Elliot (R)
Only in the final act of the film does anyone ask Billy Elliot about his dancing. Until he stands before the admissions board for the Royal Ballet School, he is either told to dance or told not to dance. When finally someone asks him, “What does it feel like to dance?” Billy unfolds a rather […]
-
Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (PG)
A review of Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011), Three Stars (2012), A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt (2011) In the beginning, Jiro Ono wistfully asks “What defines deliciousness?” At first, it might seem strange for one of the most distinguished chefs alive to ask such a thing. Would we not expect a world-renowned […]