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Beginners comes as close to presenting a first person perspective as a movie can without employing distracting gimmicks. Told from the point-of-view of the protagonist, Oliver (Ewan McGregor), the narrative follows not only his activities in the pr...

There are three things going on in The Beta Test. One works exceptionally well. One works okay (although it will fare better with “insiders” than “regular folks”). And the other pretty much fails. It’s a mixed bag although the short ...

There's something a little "off" with Dinner for Schmucks. The premise, borrowed from Francis Veber's 1999 French farce, The Dinner Game, hasn't improved significantly as a result of its translation into English. The film is sporadically amusing ...

It must be that I just don't get French humor, or at least not of the sort that attracts French movie-goers to theaters like bugs to bright lights. Several years ago, The Visitors became one of the top homemade box office successes in French histo...

Since Liam Neeson began his action star career with Taken, most of his play-for-pay films have been depressingly generic. Although far from a revelation, In the Land of Saints and Sinners rises above many of those. Perhaps that’s because the...

The production notes trumpet The Matchmaker as "a romantic comedy for people who hate romantic comedies." This statement implies that the film has something exceptionally original or daring to offer those who are tired of screen love affairs that ...

Some movies, no matter how highly regarded, can lose at least some of their luster over the passage of time. When My Dinner with Andre was released in the fall of 1981, it was a critical sensation, garnering raves from all corners including accola...

Puccini for Beginners has a lot less to do with opera than it has to do with a sit-com view of life in the Big City. Not that the approach is inherently bad, and director Maria Maggenti has fashioned a reasonably entertaining movie that borrows he...

Sinners commits one of the rarest of rare transgressions in modern cinema: it’s too ambitious. Writer/director Ryan Coogler has far too much to say for one movie but, instead of opting for another medium in which to present the story or shaving ...