Review: Delicacy

Delicacy — as in treating others delicately, not whipping up delicacies in the kitchen. Writer/co-director David Foenkinos understands that some things are too sweet for their own good, of which the adorable Audrey Tautou preparing desserts would undoubtedly qualify… [Read More]

Review: The Deep Blue Sea

In 2002, long after the popular conception of the melodrama had shifted from a dignified style for theatrical productions to the domain of only cheap soap operas, Todd Haynes made Far From Heaven – a film that did not simply pay homage to the work of 1950s master… [Read More]

Review: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

In recent late night talk show appearances promoting Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, stars Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor have hammered the idea that the film is not as dry as the title would lead one to believe. They have insisted—undoubtedly at the studio’s advisement—that while… [Read More]

Review: Footnote

Joseph Cedar’s Footnote, a splendid dark comedy nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar, represents a true rarity — a movie about what it means to be a male, where sexuality doesn’t enter the equation. Instead, the focus is on the sense of competitiveness that… [Read More]

Review: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

It is a common piece of filmmaking wisdom that a great documentary should show viewers a world that they would never have encountered in their everyday lives, and Jiro Dreams of Sushi does exactly that. The title subject is an 85-year-old Tokyo sushi chef whose delicate touch… [Read More]

Review: Being Flynn

For all I know, Nick Flynn’s memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, upon which the film Being Flynn is based, could be a literary masterwork. I’m sure that there is much to be learned from the true story of an astray twenty-something working in a homeless shelter, who meets… [Read More]

Review: The Forgiveness of Blood

Joshua Marston’s debut feature, Maria Full of Grace, was a gut-wrenching film marred only by its final shot, which transformed the protagonist into a heroine, thereby betraying its sobering objectivity. With his latest film, The Forgiveness of Blood, Marston appears to have learned… [Read More]

Review: Friends with Kids

The poster for Friends with Kids, the new film from Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein), is brilliant in the way that it pointedly expresses the essence of the piece. Above a photo of the attractive thirty-something cast conversing over dinner, it contains unchecked boxes next to the terms… [Read More]

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

When David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo “remake” was announced, the prevailing criticism in the blogosphere was: “Is this really necessary?” Aside from the subtitles, the 2009 Swedish adaptation of the popular Stieg Larsson novel was already perfectly… [Read More]