Search for Magnolia

Support the Girls belongs to a small genre that pushes back against the concept of film as “escapism.” By rejecting melodrama and artificial comedy, Support the Girls seeks to provide an honest peek into the life of one woman. Unfortunatel...

For a 20 year period, from the release of Day of the Dead in 1985 to the opening of Land of the Dead in 2005, George A. Romero was off doing other things. Since then, however, this one-time horror innovator has become a one-trick pony. Admittedly...

Michelle Williams must have an affinity for appearing in movies about melancholy relationships. Although Take This Waltz is by no means as big a downer as Blue Valentine, neither does it adhere to Hollywood formulas about how romantic dramas should...

It should be noted that Terrence Malick's failures tend to be more interesting than many directors' successes. To the Wonder is not a complete package. Crafted with what can best be described as "a European sensibility," it's heavy on visuals and ...

With Two Lovers, director James Gray has remained geographically within his comfort zone (New York City), but has moved textually away from the crime and corruption-laced stories that have marked his previous efforts. This is strictly a character-...

Disaster movies have always been popular, but I’ll leave it to psychologists to determine the reason why viewers react positively to tales of mayhem and catastrophe. The making of a disaster movie offers its creators an unusual set of challenge...

Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog was as pointed, funny, and intelligent a political satire as there has been in the last 15 years. Now, with Robert De Niro once again on board, Levinson has turned his camera toward his own backyard. What Just Happene...

Wonderful World feels like a modern-day half-baked riff on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Despite a film festival pedigree (it was shown at a number of local festivals on the 2009 circuit), the movie is so lightweight and inconsequential that ...

The World's Fastest Indian is not, as the title might suggest, a National Geographic special. Instead, it's a based-on-a-true-story tale that crosses no fewer than four genres in the space of a little more than two hours. Although some aspects of...

Death was once considered the great equalizer. These days, it's the best way to reconstruct a damaged reputation. Lionizing the dead isn't just a cottage industry; it's universal. The sins of the living are washed away in death, leaving behind a ...