My Opinion: 8.4 || An enthralling intellectual treat that also manages to be emotionally vital. Very few movies achieve this level of stimulation, and Juliette Binoche is an enthralling, trilingual knockout. Unfortunately, although the… Continue reading
My Opinion: 7.9 || Riveting — succeeds as a taut thriller, intense drama, and absorbing character study. Great insights into the mechanics of piracy and negotiation, as well as a harrowing view of what… Continue reading
My Opinion: 7.9 || Powerful subject matter that’s handled well, even if the whole doesn’t quite equal the sum of the parts. The film uses naturalism to excellent effect and never stoops to emotional… Continue reading
My Opinion: 5.4 || Promising premise that’s betrayed by weak editing and story design — should have been much shorter and more compact. There are touching and amusing elements, but they’re buried by lethargic… Continue reading
My Opinion: 8.1 || A direct and unadorned story about abandonment and kindness. Free of melodrama and predictable story turns, it has the tone and structure of a great documentary. If there’s a flaw, it’s that we never understand the motivations of the pivotal character.
My Opinion: 5.9 || Flawed but diverting thriller with a clever-enough plot. As in so many thrillers, the action hinges on someone doing something brain-numbingly stupid, and the characters aren’t particularly interesting or sympathetic.… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.4 || A point-of-view immersion into Mexico’s drug wars that emphasizes subjective experience over narrative structure or character development. The protagonist Laura is buffeted by circumstances she can’t control or understand, and… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.5 || Relentlessly bleak. Devoid of characterization and plot. And numbingly slow. But — the best black-and-white cinematography I’ve ever seen. It’s a revelation. The film is like a succession of still… Continue reading
My Opinion: 6.5 || Sharp action thriller that efficiently hits all the genre elements. Nothing very original, but that’s okay — it’s viscerally exciting, well shot, and doesn’t hurt your head with (too much) implausibility.… Continue reading
My Opinion: 7.7 || An absorbing, beautifully textured story. The young protagonist is an impressively three-dimensional character, and Nairobi itself is such a vibrant presence that you can almost taste and feel it. The… Continue reading
I'm an author and consultant in Portland, Oregon. My novel 'Beheld' will be published this June.
