Movie review by Greg Carlson Using Steve Rogers’ status as a man out of time, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” grafts civil liberties-oriented political critique to its machine-tooled visual effects exoskeleton. Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, much loved for their Emmy-winning work on the “Arrested Development” pilot and less so for “You, Me […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson The winning, off-center rockumentary “Mistaken for Strangers” examines the fraternal rivalry of siblings Matt and Tom Berninger – the former the driven and successful lead singer of Grammy-nominated critical darlings The National and the latter a part-time moviemaker and full-time slacker who still lives with his parents in Cincinnati. Directed […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson The U.S. on-demand and theatrical release of the second volume of Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” picks up the confessional discourse between Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) following the former’s rescue by the latter from a nearby alley. The second installment retains the episodic structure of the first while […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Wes Anderson’s remarkable, singular vision continues to flower in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” the auteur’s tantalizing, beguiling eighth feature. Adorned with the director’s immediately recognizable hallmarks – summarized effectively by an “Onion” gag headlined “Wes Anderson Reteams with Favorite Objects for ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’” – the film is among Anderson’s […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson “Nymphomaniac” constitutes the third and final installment in Lars von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy,” presumably inspired by the filmmaker’s own long-term struggles with dejection and despair. The release of the movie, in keeping with von Trier’s always calculated relationship with both gatekeepers and the public, has included festival screenings of the […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson While it lacks the punch and perspicacity of Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker’s “The War Room,” Greg Whiteley’s behind-the-scenes portrait of Mitt Romney’s presidential aspirations makes for an interesting and entertaining civics lesson drama, and will be catnip to all political junkies regardless of party affiliation. Covering Romney’s bid for […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In Gabriel DeLoach and Zach Keifer’s sharp documentary “If We Shout Loud Enough,” Double Dagger vocalist Nolen Strals introduces “Helicopter Lullaby” as a song “…about Baltimore, but it could be about anywhere.” The sentiment applies as easily to the film, a spacious, gorgeous love letter to the vital DIY punk […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson It doesn’t take long to realize that the quiet, introspective Chris “Wonder” Schoeck lives with a fire inside. In his early 40s, the native of Queens, New York is the subject of director Dave Carroll and producer/co-writer/cinematographer Ryan Scafuro’s “Bending Steel,” a biographical portrait of Schoeck during his quest to […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In “Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of ‘The Devils’,” Father Gene Phillips S.J., a priest who consulted with the Legion of Decency, relates an anecdote on the looming censorship problems facing Ken Russell’s film and the fate of the movie’s notorious “Rape of Christ” sequence. Surprisingly, Phillips concludes, […]