There is no denying that New York City is the most magical of places to celebrate the holidays. But when you’ve lost a loved one, the sparkle of the season can dwindle to the lowest of lows. That’s the subject matter of Daniel Tenenbaum’s A New Christmas, a romantic tale that examines the simultaneous joy…
Although it supports a cast full of people you’ve probably heard of, Badland has the look and feel of a basic-cable Western. The acting is generally dispassionate, even dull, and the writing is third rate, to say the least. If you’re looking for an exciting action movie, you might be better off finding a test…
American Dresser is a simple road-trip tale of a weary older man who, after discovering a secret shortly after his wife dies, embarks on a coast-to-coast motorcycle trip to help exorcise some demons, get some closure, and enjoy life once more. It’s exceptionally well acted and directed, with just a few potholes in the plot…
Caught between action flick thrills and hefty existential drama, Timothy Woodward Jr.’s film, Silencer, ends up in an unconvincing purgatory which neither excites or provokes. We open with a squad of US Marines in Iraq. It’s all radio banter and “Copy that!” and it looks like it’s been filmed with sunglasses over the lens, so…
Tonal balance can be an esoteric, intangible concept: An alchemy of ingredients which depends upon a fluency in film language, particularly when attempting to combine ostensibly conflicting elements. Comedy-horror films rarely get the balance right, and in this Age of Meta it’s arguably even more difficult. Blessed with an intriguing setting, but cursed with a…
Night Moves, the latest film by Kelly Reichardt (“Meek’s Cutoff”), is a personal story about three young people attempting to impact a society in which they no longer feel a part. Frustrated by continually escalating threats to the environment and by the deafness shown by political leaders, Josh (Jesse Eisenberg, “Now You See Me”) an…
Real heroes do not always end up with glory and parades. Heroism is sometimes reflected in small scale actions that no one ever hears about but occur every day in schools, hospitals or wherever there are people who need compassion. Werner Erhard defines true heroism as “the kind which ends up in the truth, in…
