All Authors >

Tom Meek

Latest Articles

Review: La Rafle

The psyche of Hitler
In La Rafle , director Rose Bosch boldly tackles the psyche of Hitler, showing the Führer enjoying the high life with Eva Braun as he instructs his minions to pressure France to hand over its Jews so he can sate his genocidal bloodlust before the Allies fully catch on to his heinous mission.

By: TOM MEEK | July 19, 2011

Review: Viva Riva!

A gritty get-down
One thing about Djo Tunda Wa Munga's plucky Third World noir: it never slows down.

By: TOM MEEK | July 05, 2011

Review: Troll Hunter

Mythical mockumentary
André Øvredal's mythical mockumentary takes place among the ravines and forests of Norway, where a troll problem exists that the public is largely unaware of.

By: TOM MEEK | June 28, 2011

Review: Cars 2

A Yugo in a lot full of Porsches
Alongside such Pixar hits as Monsters, Inc , Toy Story , and The Incredibles , Cars 2 comes off like a Yugo in a lot full of Porsches.

By: TOM MEEK | June 28, 2011

Review: Buck

Ostensibly, Cindy Meehl's documentary may focus on the exploits of horse whisperer Buck Brannaman, but it also relates a tale of perseverance.

By: TOM MEEK | June 24, 2011

Review: City of Life and Death

A visceral portrait of the hopeless
Shot in opulent black and white, the atrocities never cease.

By: TOM MEEK | June 02, 2011

Review: Hesher

A promise of things to come
There's plenty to admire in Spencer Susser's feature debut, like the impressive cast — Rainn Wilson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Piper Laurie — and the heartfelt intentions of Susser's dark coming-of-age tale.

By: TOM MEEK | May 12, 2011

Review: Saviors in the Night

A worthy entry in the Holocaust genre
Ludi Boeken's earnest adaptation of Marga Spiegel's memoir sheds new light on that much-filmed topic, the Holocaust, largely because it takes place in a small German town over the course of the war, providing a microcosm of a society in the throes of a historical catastrophe.

By: TOM MEEK | May 12, 2011

Review: Forks Over Knives

Plenty of food for thought
If Food Inc. didn't scare you off red meat, Forks over Knives just might do the trick.

By: TOM MEEK | May 12, 2011

mayor menino's new hubway bicycle sharing program in boston

Boston's new hubway system could transform how you get around town

Learning to share
On April 21, amid a throng of cyclists gathered at City Hall Plaza, Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced that the city had just inked a deal to institute a bike-sharing system that would be operational by mid-summer this year.

By: TOM MEEK | May 09, 2011

Review: Fast Five

Dumb fun, noisy neutral
In the 10 years since the F&F franchise first fired up, it has regularly spun out retreads of its tired premise, pitting the righteous against the heavy with a backdrop of car boosting, drag racing, and bum cheeks hanging out of hot pants.

By: TOM MEEK | May 06, 2011

Review: Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family

It's that time of year again, when the daffodils spring up and Tyler Perry puts on a dress and becomes Madea.

By: TOM MEEK | April 27, 2011

Review: Water For Elephants

V ividness that was absent in print.
Francis Lawrence's screen adaptation of Sara Gruen's novel renders the Depression-era yarn about a traveling circus with a vividness that was absent in print.

By: TOM MEEK | April 27, 2011

Review: Rio

A vibrant visual feast
Love drives this animated 3D flight of fancy from Carlos Saldanha, director of the Ice Age series and a native of the title city.

By: TOM MEEK | April 12, 2011

Review: Atlas Shrugged

Not all books should be made into movies
Actor Paul Johansson, in his directorial debut, sets his adaptation of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel — now a Libertarian sacred text — in a near-future (2016) plagued by socialism.

By: TOM MEEK | April 12, 2011

Review: Miral

A tale of female empowerment
Julian Schnabel, a painter by trade, comes at his films (all bio-pics) with passion and élan.

By: TOM MEEK | April 07, 2011

Review: Born To Be Wild 3D

A short, painless family pleaser
This short, painless family pleaser, available in IMAX 3D, not only promotes the wisdom of environmental conservation but also shows how people can learn from other creatures on the planet.

By: TOM MEEK | April 07, 2011

Built for two: Bike Porn 4

Bike-curious
Sano — Portland bike enthusiast, ordained minister, and curator/instigator of the annual Bike Porn touring film festival — was released from Canadian custody not long after this alleged exchange (which he reported on his Facebook page). Which is lucky for us, since otherwise we'd be forced to resort to the internet for our bicycle-themed pornography.

By: TOM MEEK | March 30, 2011

Review: Sucker Punch

Loud, sexy, and inane
The director of 300 and Watchmen has plenty of visual panache, but when it comes to storytelling, he's a bombastic hack.

By: TOM MEEK | March 31, 2011

Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Ferris Bueller, sans the wit and charm
I don't know what the original wimp, Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), in Jeff Kinney's novels is like, but in this second screen adaptation, he's less a nebbish than a self-interested conniver in the mold of Ferris Bueller, sans the wit and charm.

By: TOM MEEK | March 31, 2011

Review: Battle: Los Angeles

Jerry Bruckheimer's version of a "Be All You Can Be" PSA
This alien-invasion thriller feels like something Jerry Bruckheimer might whip up if the Army asked him to take on its "Be All That You Can Be" campaign.

By: TOM MEEK | March 17, 2011

<< first ...< prev 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | next >... last >>

2 of 12 (results 222)