Movie review by Greg Carlson Making her feature debut with an expanded adaptation of her 2009 short, Gillian Robespierre shows plenty of talent and even more promise in “Obvious Child,” a low-budget comedy attracting as much attention for its subject matter as it is for star Jenny Slate’s breakout performance. Slate plays Donna Stern, a […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Pop culture chronicler Alexandre O. Philippe, whose tremendously entertaining 2010 documentary “The People vs. George Lucas” examined the devotion of “Star Wars” fan communities, applies a similar approach in “Doc of the Dead.” Philippe splatters his canvas with bloody, broad brushstrokes, painting a rapid-fire array of talking heads both noteworthy […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Every single penny of its modest budget up on the screen, William Eubank’s “The Signal” integrates impressive special effects in a manner similar to Josh Trank’s “Chronicle,” another out-of-the-blue science fiction thriller about a group of smart young people in over their heads. Unfortunately, “The Signal” lacks a great deal […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson The uncanny resemblance of Louis Ortiz to the 44th president of the United States supplies the fuel in Ryan Murdock’s “Bronx Obama,” an engaging and entertaining documentary that follows the ups and downs of a regular guy trying to make ends meet on the basis of his physical similarities to […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Setting aside the inevitable comparisons to “Love Story” and the less inevitable comparisons to “Dying Young,” Josh Boone’s adaptation of “The Fault in Our Stars” is the most mordant and acerbic kids-with-cancer story to achieve such widespread appeal. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, who played siblings in “Divergent,” are now […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Legendary magician and fraud investigator James “The Amazing” Randi is the subject of Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein’s engrossing biopic “An Honest Liar.” Covering Randi’s extraordinary life from his early years in Toronto to his more recent decision to speak publicly about his homosexuality, “An Honest Liar” seamlessly integrates a […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson A dizzying whirlwind of cinematic sensory overload, Gyorgi Palfi’s “Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen” demands the attention of every serious movie lover besotted with the woozy power of the silver screen. Lyrically edited from more than 450 films – some bad, many good, several great – Palfi’s achievement is undeniable […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In his sharp biography “The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz,” filmmaker Brian Knappenberger spends very little time on the heartbreaking January 11, 2013 suicide of the title figure. Even so, the death, at age 26, of the brilliant Swartz looms over the contents of the movie, informing […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In “The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology,” his infectiously entertaining second collaboration with filmmaker Sophie Fiennes, the Slovenian cultural philosopher Slavoj Zizek expands his shaggy, ursine celebrity as the most accessible and engaging of contemporary Marxist, Lacanian psychoanalytic critics. In essence an illustrated lecture, Fiennes juices Zizek’s talking head performance in […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Echoing the conflicted emotions that led Leonard Nimoy to title his first autobiography “I Am Not Spock” and then later publish another volume titled “I Am Spock,” the man who has given life to Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since the inaugural season of “Sesame Street” in 1969 articulates […]