‘Malice’ and ‘Blown Away’ Are Two ’90s Thrillers With Popcorn Niche Appeal
Star casts and noirish action make for fun nostalgia viewing.
Jesse Hassenger
‘It Follows’ Has a Deep Dread on Its Mind
This movie is often creepy and unnerving, but it's not unbearably terrifying, if only because Mitchell's distinctive voice as a filmmaker is such a pleasure to behold.
‘Manglehorn’ Showcases David Gordon Green’s Odd Lyricism
Manglehorn emphasizes its title character's inability to accept many forms of attention, good or bad.
‘Odd Man Out’ and ‘The Lady From Shanghai’ Set the Stage for Carol Reed’s ‘The Third Man’
These two movies can be seen as cinematic cousins of Carol Reed's The Third Man, sharing some lineage while nonetheless carving out their own idiosyncratic identities.
Michael Mann Delves Into Digital Video With the Underwhelming ‘Blackhat’
Globe-trotting and often ridiculous, Blackhat plays like a dour, withholding installment of Mission: Impossible.
Altman Turns to Crime in ‘The Long Goodbye’ and ‘Thieves Like Us’
These two crime pictures provide insight into the ways Robert Altman operated within and without Hollywood conventions.
‘Whiplash’ Isn’t Merely a Vehicle for J.K. Simmons
Whiplash is too lean and too driving to turn into a mere actor’s vehicle. J.K. Simmons remains an impressive part of an impressive whole.
‘Maps to the Stars’ Brings Back Some Classic Cronenberg Horror
While not in the vein of Cronenberg's classic body horror thrillers, the bleak showbiz satire Maps to the Stars could well be a horror film after all.
‘Lucy’ Entertains Despite Its Stupid Science
Lucy's idea of science is akin to a stoner complaining about how math doesn't really exist, but it does have an audacity that many sci-fi thrillers in the present day lack.
‘Left Behind’ Would Have Been Better Left Behind
This Christian "blockbuster" thriller is a movie that looks and sounds significantly lower-rent than even the other low-rent thrillers Nicolas Cage has been doing lately.
Season Three of ‘Girls’ Might Be Its Strongest Yet
Much like its closest television contemporary, Mad Men, Girls comes alive through character detail rather than plot.
The ‘Steven Spielberg Director’s Collection’ Captures a Critical Period in the Director’s Career
Universal Pictures, distributors of the eight-film Steven Spielberg Collection on Blu-ray, is uniquely positioned to offer a long view of Spielberg's career.