Thursday, December 6,2012
‘The Sessions’ is sweetly sexual
By Ryan Syrek
America’s Puritanical origins mean that “sweetly sexual” may sound oxymoronic, but that phrase absolutely defines The Sessions, the softest and kindest movie to ever feature a star of Mad About You buck nekkid.
Thursday, December 6,2012
‘Smashed’ updates our alcoholic narrative
By Ryan Syrek
The ubiquitous hyperbolic after-school-special type of dramatization of the perils of alcoholism has lost its teeth; it no longer delivers a social bite so much as it gets drool everywhere.
Thursday, November 29,2012
‘Anna Karenina’ adaptation employs unique devices
By Dave Taylor
Tolstoy’s classic novel of love and infidelity, Anna Karenina has been brought to stage and screen many times, often with mediocre results due to its complexity.
Wednesday, November 21,2012
‘Life of Pi’ succeeds at every level
By Dave Taylor
Being stranded in the middle of an unforgiving ocean is a theme that’s been explored in films as diverse as Swiss Family Robinson and Hitchcock’s surprisingly tense Lifeboat. But being cast adrift for more than 200 days in a lifeboat with an adult Bengal tiger?
Wednesday, November 21,2012
In the end, ‘Lincoln’ is more about an act than a man
By Ryan Syrek
A humble suggestion: Force the chittering, self-serving partisans in Washington who increasingly prefer filibusters over floor votes to watch Lincoln. Director Steven Spielberg’s latest provides a character sketch, not of its titular president, but of America’s political process.
Thursday, November 15,2012
‘Man with the Iron Fists’ is uneven fun%u2028
By Ryan Syrek
To walk in to The Man with the Iron Fists by choice is to give up your right to bitch about story and character.
Thursday, November 8,2012
Daniel Craig finally nails spy’s character in ‘Skyfall’
By Dave Taylor
There’s no more iconic spy in Western culture than 007, Bond, James Bond, and with a 50-year cinematic history, the 22 previous films in the franchise also represent an extraordinary body of cinematic work.
Thursday, November 8,2012
‘Wreck-It Ralph’ is sticky sweet
By Ryan Syrek
For a generation weaned on more Mario than Mother Goose, Wreck-It Ralph has been a long time coming.
Thursday, November 1,2012
‘Detropia’ stylishly shows Detroit’s demise
By Ryan Syrek
At its worst, cinema verite is aimless pretense masquerading as artistic intent. At its best, it is Detropia, a documentary that adds soul to statistics, going inside the implosion of a once-proud city using a sprawling, haunting approach.
Thursday, November 1,2012
‘Cloud Atlas’ sports foggy brilliance
By Ryan Syrek
To steal from Mother Goose (don’t worry, she’s dead): When Cloud Atlas is good, it’s very, very good; when it’s bad, Hugo Weaving is doing a drag impression of Nurse Ratched.