Movie review by Greg Carlson Since the vast majority of its audience will not have read the original, only indignant professor-types, Old English scholars, and epic poetry nerds are likely to take issue with any of the changes brought to the latest interpretation of “Beowulf.” Clearly designed as a Hollywood money-making machine engineered to separate […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Director Craig Gillepsie’s “Lars and the Real Girl” is more simple-minded than simple, a transparent family psychodrama without any original ideas beyond its outrageous premise. Awkward, guilt-ridden bachelor Lars (Ryan Gosling in twitching, grimacing nerd mode) stuns his brother, pregnant sister-in-law, and assorted townsfolk when he introduces them to his […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson An unabashedly strong-willed documentary with powerful convictions, “For the Bible Tells Me So” is far more likely to reinforce the beliefs of the audience members who will seek it out than it is to alter the viewpoint of the anti-gay people of faith to whom it is directed. Compact, sprightly, […]

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 […]