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Over the past 15 years with Lars von Trier as its poster boy, Danish cinema has gained an international reputation as cynical and severe. The humor is grim, the drama is grimmer, and the production values are ascetic. So After the Wedding is a fr...

American Gangster is compelling in the same way that many mob-related motion pictures are compelling, but it fails to achieve the greatness that the best of them attain. The problem with American Gangster may be that it tries to hard to provide bal...

For anyone who doesn’t remember the media popularity of Dr. Ruth Westheimer during the 1980s, Ask Dr. Ruth (a documentary made for the Hulu platform) may be little more than a curiosity – a competently mounted film providing insight into a...

When one speaks of cultural relevance, some movies capture it in the moment (oftentimes dating the production in the process). Others grasp it as if looking in a rearview mirror. But there’s a small group, either through clairvoyance or happenst...

The concept of “alternate histories” has always represented a source of fascination for history buffs and science fiction fans alike. Alternate histories hone in on potential turning points in world events and postulate what might have hap...

Sometimes, the lure of generic horror tropes can be too strong for even the most high-minded films to avoid. Come Play is an example. The premise intrigues with its potential – the idea that just because something looks like a traditional �...

Criminal is an English-language remake of the little-known (at least in these parts) Nine Queens, a 2000 film from Fabian Bielinsky. First-time director Gregory Jacobs and his co-writer, "Sam Lowry" (actually a pseudonym for Steven Soderbergh), ha...

Is revenge a viable path to redemption? That's the question posed by Niels Arden Oplev's Dead Man Down, the Danish director's introduction to U.S.-funded productions. With a cast populated by serious actors (not necessarily A-list stars but men and...

Forget The Grudge 2, Saw III, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. If you want real horror - the kind that will turn your stomach and curdle your insides - you need look no further than the documentary realm and Deliver Us from Evil. After...

While watching Disney's Dinosaur, with all of its incredibly rendered creatures and seamless blending of animated objects with real backgrounds, a question occurred to me: In movies like this, can the writing keep pace with the technology? Films ...