SEVEN POUNDS is an ambitious film tripped up by its execution. Full of noble intent, and the brave choice to (mostly) eschew sticky sentimentality in favor of a more clinical approach to the issue of a man obsessed with death, alas, the result is a film that is for the first three-quarters of its running… Read More »
LABOR DAY
LABOR DAY will leave you craving peach pie and your money back. Based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, it is a leaden piece of work whose excellent acting and evocative direction cant overcome a dicey beginning. Jason Reitman, he of JUNO, YOUNG ADULT, and UP IN THE AIR, directs from… Read More »
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE is overwhelmed with such an overweening sense of earnestness that one feels almost sinful for not being swept along with what its makers obviously consider a tale of great importance. The greater sin, though, is in taking a tale of exorcism, faith, and the law and not making it more… Read More »
INSIDIOUS
The most resonant horror films, the ones that stand the test of time, are the ones that speak most directly to some aspect of reality that is magnetically identifiable to the viewer. Such is the case with INSIDIOUS, a smartly conceived film by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the founders of the SAW franchise. While… Read More »