Search for 2011

Immortals plays like the illegitimate offspring of 300 and Clash of the Titans, but while it represents a substantial improvement over the latter, it falls short of the former. As is typical of films directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell), a weak narr...

Andrew Niccol is fascinated by the impact of futuristic technologies on society. His gripping feature debut, 1997's Gattaca, explored a civilization in which genetic tinkering rendered natural reproduction obsolete. With In Time, he is again looki...

Sometimes with horror movies, it's all about tone. The apprehension and dread one feels while watching a good horror film cannot easily be manufactured and some filmmakers incorrectly believe that gore and special effects pave the path. The Innkeep...

If there's a complaint to be made about Insidious, it's that the film's second half is unable to live up to the impossibly high standards set by the first half. This isn't unusual when it comes to films that include a "reveal"; even Jaws lost a sha...

Watching Into the Abyss, I had the overwhelming sense that, somewhere along the way, Werner Herzog lost his way. It happens to the best filmmakers, and that's one of the perils of making a documentary - events don't always go where the man behind t...

At the beginning of The Intouchables, a caption informs us that this is "based on a true story." The Intouchables is a very good film - uplifting, funny, heartwarming, etc. - but its strengths are unrelated to the degree (or lack thereof) of factua...

After watching Intruders, I was forced to ponder a question: Why do so many horror movies that begin with promise fall apart in the final act? Intruders is the latest example of what has become a trend: scary films adept at drawing viewers in but i...

If one was to judge the career of Margaret Thatcher, the U.K.'s Prime Minister from 1979 through 1990, based solely on this bio-pic, one might conclude that her tenure was unworthy of a cinematic account. Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady presents Tha...

Who knew the life story of J. Edgar Hoover could be so arid? Actually, that's unfair, but there are stretches of J. Edgar when the proceedings seem to drag. Counterbalancing the occasional bursts of tedium, however, are a tremendous lead performanc...

Jane Eyre is like Hamlet: a version arrives every few years without regard to whether a new adaptation is wanted or needed. It's not only a classic, but a staple as well, and many serious directors are itching to put their imprint upon it. The 2011...