MovieSorter

loading Title loading Tws summary loading Trust loading Year ▲ Viewable
Stone
Very Good 83 Points 2010

De Niro and Norton’s moviestar masterclass combined with austerely beautiful filmmaking elevates a formulaic story that trades heavily in caricature. Often darkly funny, occasionally LOL so, Stone surmounts its insufficient title by proving itself an involving experience.

Full Review »
WikChip Image Moviestar Masterclass: De Niro & Norton
Gainsbourg: A H...
Good 66 Points 2010

French musical sensation Serge Gainsbourg explains himself in this surreal biopic. Largely unknown here in America, Gainsbourg was a cross between Dylan, Sinatra and Leonard Cohen in France. The women he squired – including Brigitte Bardot during her superstar heyday – comprise a good part of h…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Musician's Beauty: Gainsbourg & Bardot
Coco Chanel & I...
OK 66 Points 2010

Visually scintillating, musically avant-garde, dramatically turgid: This biopic of two cultural giants goes down like Brussels sprouts instead of foie gras. IOW, it takes effort to work through the two hour running time, when it should feel like savoring a rich delicacy. Pity, since Coco & Igor…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Great design barely trumps turgid drama.
Please Give
Very Good 83 Points 2010

Everybody’s damaged in Please Give. Most are awful, some sweet, all adrift. Misanthropic, it generates frequent laughs at the expense of these modern Manhattanites. Think a more seriously inclined Seinfeld – from the feminine side. Not that …

Full Review »
WikChip Image Big sis Amanda Peet: Skin deep beauty
Headhunters
Great 83 Points 2011

The slang for corporate recruiter once connoted a frisson of danger. Then “Headhunter” lost its edge. Headhunters returns it and then some. An insanely funny thriller, it rivals fellow Scandinavian noir classic Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Full Review »
WikChip Image This doesn't end well.
1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Warrior
Great 84 Points 2011

MMA gets its 15 minutes of movie fame in Warrior, reason enough for mixed-martial arts fans to revere it. For the rest of us? Reason to avoid it. Most movie fans in Silicon Valley apparently fall in the latter camp, judging from the near empty Camera 7 theater on opening night.

Pity, beca…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Trailer featuring music by The National
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "moviegod300's Review":http://www.viewguid...
Arbitrage
Barely OK 66 Points 2012

Second-rate performances by first-rate stars in a second-rate thriller with a heavy-handed political agenda make Arbitrage a third-rate movie. Don’t believe the praise it’s received from the Mainstream Media. They’re in love with writer-director Nicholas Jarecki’s politics more than his movie…

Full Review »
WikChip Image The movie's lone shining star: Tim Roth
1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Butter
Pretty Bad 66 Points 2012

Butter is rancid, a comedy devoid of laughs and full of bile. No LOLs, no guffaws, not even a single smile gets triggered by its steady stream of condescension. Mean spiritedness in a comedy can work, so long as the movie brings the laughs. If it’s unfunny, then it’s just smug, catty and mean…

Full Review »
WikChip Image A figment of Hollywood imagination
Wanderlust
Very Good 66 Points 2012

Comedies get no respect, so perceptively intelligent movies like Wanderlust get discounted by the critics. Never mind that it’s continuously clever even if only sporadically LOL.

The LOLs do come however, some hitting various parts of the audience and some slaying everyone. When a Big One …

Full Review »
WikChip Image Justin Theroux's 2-faced manipulator
Lay the Favorite
Very Good 66 Points 2012

True stories bear a burden when they get turned into movies. Stay true to the story and the movie will be less than spectacular. Punch it up and get accused of selling out.

Lay the Favorite falls prey to the former as it recounts a real young woman’s underground education. The indomitable…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Formidable Wife: Catherine's Tulip