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Browsing All posts tagged under »movie review«
The Place Beyond the Pines
This movie was not what I expected. And it’s not, I imagine, what most people that go to see it expect. The greatest surprise of this film also may have been its biggest weakness: it is actually three movies in one. You don’t know that going into it because the mainstream trailer, understandably, makes it […]
Nobody’s Fool, book vs. movie
August 13, 2011
I had read Richard Russo’s short stories in The New Yorker, but never any of his novels. He was always, to me, one of those authors my mom was always reading. She loved Bridge of Sighs and recommended it to all her friends, and there’s a large hardcover of Empire Falls somewhere in our house. […]
Catfish
January 31, 2011
Who exactly is the monster in the new documentary Catfish? Before seeing the movie, all you hear is that there’s a big secret behind the film, that you don’t want to have it spoiled for you, that it will totally shock/rock your world. The trailer warns “Don’t let anyone tell you what it is.” OMG! […]
The Town
January 3, 2011
I’ve heard many people gripe that The Town was formulaic, unoriginal, or had wooden performances. Let me attempt to refute all of those, because The Town was actually a truly impressive directorial accomplishment, a movie I’d place in the pantheon of outstanding contemporary Boston films (The Paper Chase, Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, The Departed). […]
Inception
July 23, 2010
After finally making it to the movie I’ve been salivating over since I first saw that bare-bones, secretive teaser trailer nine months ago, I can’t help but react first and foremost to what it seemed like everyone was talking about in the days after the release: how difficult the movie was to follow. Owen Gleiberman […]
Where the Wild Things Are
October 18, 2009
I got to see this three days before it came out in theaters, at a special screening. I was very excited. I really, really wanted to like it. Unfortunately, the movie falls incredibly short of all the hype that has been building for so many months. At the very least, the film is visually stunning. […]
Be Kind Rewind
August 7, 2008
This is a tough one to review. It’s charming, original, and fun. Coming from any other place, this would be a fabulous movie. However, it’s not just from anyone—it’s Michel Gondry. His resume is so good that I simply couldn’t help having high expectations. And the movie didn’t meet those expectations. My biggest criticism of […]
The Dark Knight
July 30, 2008
The praise for this movie was enormous enough to make me pretty skeptical. To my friends who constantly nagged me to see it, I would say things like, “But don’t you think it’s just hyped because Ledger died? I know that’s not politically correct, but come on… if he hadn’t died there wouldn’t have been […]
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Daniel B. Roberts 
May 2, 2013
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