Movie review by Greg Carlson The monochromatic landscapes of Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” capture the open fields of America during a quixotic father-son road trip in which nothing and everything happens all at once. Bob Nelson’s screenplay introduces Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) shambling along the side of the road in Billings, Montana. Armed with a sweepstakes […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson In the opening scene of Ulrich Seidl’s “Paradise: Love,” the Austrian filmmaker presents a series of vehicle-mounted shots focused on the faces of people with developmental disabilities as they careen around in bumper cars. Smashing into one another, their expressions run the gamut of highly intensified human emotion as Seidl […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Things move so quickly in the digital age that documentaries on contemporary Internet politics are risky business for diligent filmmakers committed to quality research. Alex Gibney, whose “Taxi to the Dark Side” earned the 2007 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, is as good as any non-fiction storyteller working today, and […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Following its Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival in May, the discourse around Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Blue Is the Warmest Color” has addressed the off-screen drama between the filmmaker and stars Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux as much or more than the onscreen story of a doomed love affair […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson For any number of reasons, including the ones framed by Richard Brody in his New Yorker essay “Should a Film Try to Depict Slavery?,” fictional and fictionalized movies about the topic are relatively few in number. David Denby’s claim that Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” is “easily the greatest […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson On his 21st birthday, slightly awkward wallflower Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) receives the unlikely news that he has the ability to travel backward in time. Dad (Bill Nighy) explains the miraculous capability to his son, noting that the trait is enjoyed exclusively by the male offspring in the family line. Like […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Like fellow Detroiter Sixto Rodriguez, Bobby, Dannis, and David Hackney’s trio Death recorded stunning music embraced and appreciated by its largest audience decades following the original production. A little Motor City magic connects “Searching for Sugar Man” to “A Band Called Death,” another compelling movie version of an almost too-weird-to-be-true […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson If one believes the assessment of Scott Foundas in his apologetic “Variety” essay, Ridley Scott’s “The Counselor” is a slept-on and misunderstood near-masterpiece on par with “Blade Runner” and not the ridiculous, cringe-worthy embarrassment described by many other critics. For those keeping track, Metacritic’s page for “The Counselor” averages fifteen […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson A disappointing and unnecessary remake of Stephen King’s first major success, Kimberly Peirce’s take on “Carrie” almost slavishly follows the rhythm and pace of Brian De Palma’s 1976 classic. The rehashed script, credited to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and original screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, fails to turn up anything new and significant […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Probably the weirdest and most disappointing thing about Shane Salerno’s documentary “Salinger” is the lack of interest shown in the words and ideas of the popular author’s literary output. Sure, the movie follows a familiar script that makes connections between “real life” sources and inspirations for well-loved characters and events, […]