Movie review by Greg Carlson Warsaw-born, UK-based Pawel Pawlikowski delivers one of the year’s most rewarding cinematic experiences in “Ida,” a stark, monochromatic treasure set in Poland in 1962. Quiet, introspective, and deliberate on the outside, the movie’s interior life is by contrast filled with the most tumultuous emotional upheaval imaginable. Raised by nuns and […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Late in writer-director Damien Chazelle’s sophomore feature “Whiplash,” monstrous music teacher Terence Fletcher states, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job.” By this point, the viewer will have formed a few troubled thoughts about Fletcher, who berates and belittles his students in much […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman” gives Michael Keaton the “Being John Malkovich” treatment in a messy, noisy backstage drama enamored of its own ruminations about art and artifice, celebrity worship, self-respect, narcissism and several dozen additional Big Ideas. In 2000, “Amores perros,” the first installment of Inarritu’s “death trilogy,” divided audiences, […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson One of the best films of 2014, Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler” is thrilling metafiction that simultaneously wallows in and critiques the lurid relationship between violent crime and broadcast/cable/Internet news. The writer-director also thoroughly explores the insatiable hunger of the viewing public to devour stories of death and mayhem, and does so […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Like Herman Blume, the wealthy industrialist in Wes Anderson’s awesome “Rushmore,” Bill Murray’s Vincent MacKenna is a prickly, disillusioned Vietnam veteran with a taste for alcohol and cigarettes. MacKenna is poor and Blume is rich, but both men reassess their lives following unexpected and unorthodox friendships with much younger boys. […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Trading the comic complications and satirical stingers of “Thank You for Smoking” and “Juno” for the more nakedly manipulative white whine and/or bathos of “Up in the Air,” “Young Adult,” and the critically ravaged “Labor Day,” filmmaker Jason Reitman adds another entry to his list of underwhelming missteps. The director’s […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson By fans, for fans, “Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys” covers the profitable marriage of George Lucas’ phenomenal movie and Kenner Products, the Cincinnati-based company that acquired the license to produce action figures, vehicles, and other playthings based on Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and the many […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson WARNING: The following review reveals key plot information. Read only if you have seen “Gone Girl.” Gillian Flynn, author of the bestselling novel “Gone Girl,” hit the Hollywood jackpot. She, A) Got to adapt her own screenplay without having to share any screen credit; B) Had the fortune of finding […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Challenging the viewer to discover points of engagement with its two ferociously solipsistic protagonists, “Fort Tilden” is a wickedly funny satire sustained by the comic writing of co-directors Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers and the deadpan performances of Bridie Elliott and Clare McNulty as codependent BFFs/roommates as clueless about humanity […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Co-directed and co-written by Martha Stephens (age 30) and Aaron Katz (age 32), “Land Ho!” premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for theatrical distribution. A modest but picturesque blend of road movie, buddy comedy, and seize-the-day philosophizing, “Land Ho!” might be […]