ReelViews for R movies

Letters from Iwo Jima is a unique American-made war movie for at least two reasons: it depicts the battle from the perspective of the losers and it represents the United States as the "enemy." Coupled with Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Ji...

Liberal Arts is a parfait - a light, enjoyable concoction that goes down easily but doesn't linger. The movie is great "in the moment" but may be difficult to recall with any specificity after time has elapsed. The film has a friendly, sophisticat...

I wish there were more movies like this. Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson’s most uplifting movie to-date, may give some viewers a flashback to the days when Cameron Crowe was at the height of his powers. It’s that kind of movie: sweet and ...

Spoiler Alert: This review contains oblique spoilers. It doesn’t reveal any specifics but there’s an argument that even hinting at something (without discussing it in detail) can be considered a spoiler. You have been warned. The October 2...

Oblique spoilers follow. Nothing specific, but there are some hints about things perhaps better left unrevealed.Yes, for a majority of its running length, Life is an Alien clone. The similarities are so strong that they’re impossible to ignor...

The Life Before Her Eyes is an examination of survivor guilt. It uses as its backdrop a Columbine-like school shooting and flashes back and forth between a girl as she is at the time of the incident and the woman she will be fifteen years later. ...

"There are no guarantees. But there is also nothing to fear. We come from oblivion when we are born. We return to oblivion when we die. The astonishing thing is this period of in-between." -- Roger Ebert When Steve James, the acclaimed director ...

Life Itself starts out with great promise – a dizzying first act that creates the tapestry of a character’s life by offering a kaleidoscope of moments from his past. It’s poignant, effective, and punctuated by actions that are breathtaki...

This is going to be a shorter review than the movie possibly deserves but there’s a reason for that. Part of the greatness of experiencing The Life of Chuck comes from watching it unfold and discerning all the connective tissue. Revealing too mu...

The Lighthouse starts out as a moody, introspective exploration of loneliness and interpersonal communication and develops into an existential horror movie. Although I don’t think the ending quite works, the film grows more unsettling as it ...