Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
The Master – 4
The Star Tribune called this a “must-see for serious film lovers and a challenge for everyone else” – and here I thought all along that I was a serious film lover. For me, this was one pointless scene after another: the ‘Master’ rides a motorcycle on the desert salt flats – to what end? the […]
Searching for Sugar Man – 6.5
There was one heartwarming, tear-inducing moment in this documentary: when the obscure-everywhere-but-South-Africa folk singer Rodriguez makes a triumphant visit to Cape Town, 25 years after he is last heard of and presumed dead, and performs to an adoring, screaming sold-out crowd. The other virtue of the film lies in introducing us to the Dylanesque music […]
Arbitrage – 6.5
It is very hard to make a convincing movie about corporate malfeasance or corruption. There are so many checks and balances and audits and committees. Richard Gere’s story in this Wall Streeter seem as implausible as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s bike-riding in Premium Rush. One, of course, is reminded of Bernie Madoff and Tom Petters, but I’m […]
Dark Knight Rises – 7.7
Christian Bale is a convincing and compelling Batman in this superbly acted, directed and photographed (wish I’d seen it at IMAX) action brooder. Somehow the story races along on parallel tracks – one grounded in real-world actions and emotions, the other on a superhero plane – without letting you ponder or making you question this […]
Nuit #1 – 7
For the first 15 minutes they take off their clothes, for the rest of the film they bare their souls. The conceit and the dialogue are very ’60s French, and I only caught on slowly that Quebec, not Marseille, was the location of the dingy apartment. I can’t say that anything profound or enlightening emerged […]