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Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Documentary

Powerful images
The films in this program contain some of the most powerful images to be seen on the screen this year.

By PETER KEOUGH | February 10, 2012

Review: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Brad Peyton's sequel
I liked the tiny elephants and the Rock bouncing berries off his pecs, but Brad Peyton's sequel is as bad as the 2008 original.

By PETER KEOUGH | February 07, 2012

Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Animated

Standouts
One film stands out among the Animated Shorts, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby's Wild Life .

By GERALD PEARY | February 08, 2012

Review: The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Live Action

The Oscar nominees for Live Action Shorts come down to five conventional narratives.
The Oscar nominees for Live Action Shorts come down to five conventional narratives.

By GERALD PEARY | February 07, 2012

Review: Chronicle

Superpowered teens
Poor Andrew (Dane DeHaan) has more problems than any movie teenager deserves.

By PETER KEOUGH | February 02, 2012

James Watkins's old-fashioned ghost story
After 10 years battling supernatural creatures, you'd think Harry Potter would be better equipped to deal with the paranormal pests he faces in James Watkins's old-fashioned ghost story.

By ALEXANDRA CAVALLO | February 02, 2012

Review: Big Miracle

Ken Kwapis's take on a true story from 1988
Taking a tip from the oil industry, Hollywood has started exploiting Alaska. Following in the tracks of The Grey is Ken Kwapis's take on a true story from 1988 about an effort to save gray whales trapped in the Arctic ice. Surprisingly, the film offers genuine complexity.

By PETER KEOUGH | January 31, 2012

Review: Charlotte Rampling: The Look

Angelina Maccarone's portrait of the actress
Rampling's physical gifts, unimpeded by plastic surgery in their march through time, are matched by a keen mind and an unapologetic approach to life and work.

By BETSY SHERMAN | January 31, 2012

Review: One for the Money

Julie Anne Robinson's insipid adaptation
TV director Julie Anne Robinson's insipid adaptation of this first volume in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series has more in common with Young Adult than with the average gumshoe yarn.

By PETER KEOUGH | January 31, 2012

Review: The Innkeepers

Ti West's spook show
Ti West's spook show is atmospheric (thanks to the terrific hotel setting) and frequently funny; but the plot line is choppy, the dialogue often unnecessary, and the scares too sparse.

By PEG ALOI | January 31, 2012

Review: A Separation

Family drama
Somehow, despite an increasingly repressive regime that has jailed many prominent filmmakers, including the world renowned auteur Jafar Panahi, Iranian cinema continues to produce some of the world's subtlest and most illuminating films about the relationships between men and women, and the conflicts inherent in all social units, starting with the family.

By PETER KEOUGH | January 26, 2012

Review: Albert Nobbs

Gender identity crisis
Lesbianism doesn't exist as a cogent category in 19th century Ireland, which could explain why Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close), a woman disguised for years as a man and employed as a Dublin waiter, has no personal understanding of who she is, her identity, or what she feels.

By GERALD PEARY | January 26, 2012

Review: The Grey

Man vs. wolves
At the center of this superior stranded-men-picked-off-by-external-threat thriller is Ottway, an anguished loner powerfully played by Liam Neeson.

By BETSY SHERMAN | January 26, 2012

Review: Crazy Horse

Wiseman behind the scenes at a revered dance institution
In La Danse — The Paris Opera Ballet , Frederick Wiseman looked behind the scenes at a revered dance institution. In his new documentary he examines a dance institution of a different sort, the cabaret bar of the title, a Parisian pop-cultural icon and tourist mecca dedicated to artistically ambitious "nude chic" dancing.

By PETER KEOUGH | January 24, 2012

Review: Haywire

Soderbergh phones it in
Despite some thrilling combat choreography executed with flair by MMA champ Gina Carano, Steven Soderbergh clearly phoned it in here. The barely-there plot involves Mallory (Carano), a double-crossed Black Ops agent who goes rogue in an uninteresting search for revenge.

By THOMAS PAGE MCBEE | January 24, 2012