Movie review by Greg Carlson Wes Anderson’s fifth feature, “The Darjeeling Limited,” can be as sweet and seductive as Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” one of the many beautiful pieces of music selected to play on the movie’s soundtrack. An homage to several memorable India-set films, most notably Jean Renoir’s “The River,” “The Darjeeling Limited” […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Tony Gilroy, whose work on the screenplays for the “Bourne” trilogy have earned plenty of accolades, not only writes but directs the spartan legal thriller “Michael Clayton,” a star showcase for George Clooney. Aiming for the vibe of 1970s paranoia-themed movies, Gilroy’s first behind-the-camera effort comes up a bit short, […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Sean Penn delivers the finest and most satisfying of his quartet of features with an adaptation of John Krakauer’s “Into the Wild,” the tale of a privileged young man who perished while camping alone in Alaska in 1992. Penn also adapted the text of the bestseller, and his screenplay effectively […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Despite whatever benefit studio marketers assumed they might reap for hyping “Feel the Noise” as material from “producer Jennifer Lopez,” the movie is a boring mess. An uninspired laundry list of common music movie clichés, “Feel the Noise” squanders its opportunities at every turn, managing to transform the infectious energy […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In Steve Buscemi’s remake of Theo van Gogh’s 2003 “Interview,” the writer-director-star shares the screen with tabloid fixture Sienna Miller, who plays a bratty, spoiled starlet most audience members will assume is rather close to the truth. Of course, the gamesmanship on display between the two principal characters argues that […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Arguably more brilliant than “A History of Violence,” David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises” proves one of the year’s most compelling, engaging, and sharpest films. The movie’s Christmastime setting in contemporary London conjures a thoroughly fascinating otherworld of Russian transplants who count themselves members of the “vory v zakone,” a crime organization […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Despite inviting comparisons from critics partial to Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Dekalog,” the strange anthology movie “The Ten” offers enough outrageous gags and sly wit to qualify as one of the year’s most audacious comedies. Created by members of comedy troupe the State, “The Ten” presents a series of shorts riffing on […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Directed by Dan Klores with Fisher Stevens, “Crazy Love” spins the almost unbelievable tale of Burt Pugach, a devilish con-man, and Linda Riss, the woman Pugach stalked and later married. Presented with the same sensational tone as the screaming late-1950s New York Mirror headlines it incorporates, “Crazy Love” parades its […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Remaking, or as the studio would have it, “re-imagining,” a contemporary classic horror movie might win a generation of new fans, but for those old enough to remember John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s superior version of “Halloween,” Rob Zombie’s take doesn’t quite measure up. There is no question that the […]