Movie review by Greg Carlson Spike Lee’s second documentary on one of the most unforgettable, electrifying, and controversial superstars of the 20th century doesn’t compare to the filmmaker’s finest nonfiction features. But the cumbersomely titled “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall” celebrates an exciting transitional period in the performer’s life with plenty […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson WARNING: The following review reveals key plot information. Read only if you have seen “Anomalisa.” Like so many of the curious, distinctive places imagined and created for his films, the universe of Charlie Kaufman’s “Anomalisa” is simultaneously familiar and strange, recognizable and alien, inviting and terrifying. Based on Kaufman’s 2005 […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Leading all Oscar challengers with a total of twelve nominations, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “The Revenant” has to overcome a few daunting statistics reported by prognosticator Scott Feinberg in order to win Best Picture. Feinberg notes that only one movie in the last fifty years (“Titanic,” which, coincidentally starred Leonardo DiCaprio) […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Mark Hartley’s “Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films” sprays viewers with an Uzi-like barrage of film clips, trailers, promo reels, and talking heads to spin the tale of 1980s powerhouse schlock heavyweights – and cousins – Manahem Golan and Yoram Globus. A competitor and companion to Hila […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson The meticulous Todd Haynes shares another engrossing 1950s tale of forbidden romance with “Carol,” a thematic sibling to the director’s career high point “Far from Heaven.” Adapted by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith’s bracing novel “The Price of Salt,” “Carol” is every bit as feverish as the legendary anecdote describing […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson With “The Look of Silence,” filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer and his dedicated collaborators have constructed a harrowing companion piece to the unforgettable chronicle of genocide in Indonesia depicted in “The Act of Killing.” In one sense answering critics who wondered why the prior film concentrated on the perpetrators of murder and […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Fans and admirers of Marlon Brando won’t require any coaxing to see Stevan Riley’s hugely entertaining documentary “Listen to Me Marlon,” but the film is compelling enough to transcend its status as “mere” Hollywood biography. A visual and aural odyssey that explores the actor’s well-known career highlights as well as […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Global treasure Guy Maddin detonates a cinematic depth charge in “The Forbidden Room,” a stunning cascade of images so gorgeous you might think you’ve stumbled upon some long lost Yma Sumac record sleeve photo shoot leftovers as lensed by Willy Hameister. Bearing all the filmmaker’s signature stylistic fetishes and then […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Following the honorary Oscar he received last month at the Governors Awards (along with the blistering truth-to-power acceptance speech he made), Spike Lee doesn’t seem likely to pick up many competitive Academy Award nominations for “Chi-Raq,” even though he should. Co-written with Kevin Willmott, whose diabolically good “C.S.A.: Confederate States […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson John Crowley’s film of Colm Toibin’s popular novel “Brooklyn” features a tremendous Saoirse Ronan – whose thoughtful and inviting presence is more than enough to recommend the movie, despite some of its easy calculations. As Eilis Lacey, a young woman who leaves her home and family in Enniscorthy, Ireland for […]