Big Miracle: Fish Story
Last fall we saw the release of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, a terrific thriller that took in a single event (a global pandemic) from the...
Dangerous Method: Jungian Slip
More than 50 years after his death, Carl Jung seems to have reasserted himself in the zeitgeist, with the recent publication of his famously...
Albert Nobbs: Man Drag
Glenn Close has been trying to get Albert Nobbs made into a film since 1982. Before she delivered any of the screen performances that...
The Artist: Quiet on the Set
After premiering at last summer’s Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and a Best Actor prize, The Artist has played to rapturous reception at...
Haywire: Kane Mutiny
I’m not sure why this film is called Haywire. The title implies a berserk quality, when in fact this movie is a tightly controlled...
Iron Lady: Tory Details
More than 20 years after she left office as Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher now enjoys a much higher reputation in America...
Oh, the Carnage!
An ongoing motif in Roman Polanski’s career has been characters trapped in enclosed spaces. The director seems to love watching people unravel in apartments,...
Sex, Shame, and Tears
Other actors were onscreen a lot in 2011 — Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rutger Hauer (five movies, look it up!) — but...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: When You’re Smiley…
I’ve heard complaints about Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from those who haven’t read the John le Carré novel on which it’s based or seen...
Top 10 Movies of 2011
Do better next year, Hollywood. That’s how I feel as I look back on the movies of 2011. American films dominated my Top 10...
