Movie review by Greg Carlson David O. Russell continues to expand his interest in a kind of contemporary screwball comedy with “American Hustle,” a tremendously funny con that manages to simultaneously conjure “The Philadelphia Story” and “The Sting” by way of “Goodfellas.” As messy, ridiculous, and elaborate as the wild comb-over worn by Christian Bale’s […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson “Cutie and the Boxer,” filmmaker Zachary Heinzerling’s portrait of married artists Noriko and Ushio Shinohara, largely refrains from passing judgment on the quality of the work produced by the two New York City residents. Instead, the documentarian takes advantage of his proximity and access to navigate a messy, psychologically complex […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Since his 1999 feature debut “Being John Malkovich,” Spike Jonze has established himself as one of the most gifted and intelligent visual stylists working in the cinematic medium. Jonze’s latest, “Her,” is only the director’s fourth feature and is the first full-length original screenplay credited solely to the auteur. An […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson An exuberant and emotionally involving portrait of rock star Kathleen Hanna sure to please longtime fans while making plenty of new ones, Sini Anderson’s “The Punk Singer” joins a crowded slate of terrific music-oriented documentaries released in 2013. The filmmaker’s friendship with the outspoken leader of Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, […]