FILM REVIEWS
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Revolutionary RoadA companion piece to "American Beauty," the Oscar-winning feature debut of British director Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road," another biting dissection of American suburban life, is beautifully acted by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in tough and challenging roles, but the film as a whole leaves much to be desired.continue > | B+ |
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MilkAs Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politico elected into office, Sean Penn renders such a sympathetic and towering performance that he elevates Gus Van Sant's enjoyable biopic way above its conventional structure and melodramatic trappings.continue > | B+ |
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DefianceBased on a true, largely unknown story, "Defiance," a WWII tale of family honor, vengeance, and salvation, is a typical Edward Zwick work: A politically charged film about a socially significant issue, which combines action and melodrama in equal measure, but suffers from lack of personal vision and is defined by a passable though unexciting technical execution.continue > | C+ |
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Frost/NixonFrank Langella, who won the Tony Award and numerous other prizes for his portraiture of former president Richard Nixon, and Michael Sheen, as TV interviewer David Frost, deliver engrossing performances in Ron Howard’s smooth screen version of Peter Morgan’s play “Frost/Nixon,” an old-fashioned, dialogue-driven movie that unlike most of Hollywood fare commands attention and is worth listening to.continue > | B |
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DoubtBy Brian Gibbons The great Meryl Streep gives another stellar performance in "Doubt," the screen version of John Patrick Shanley's acclaimed Broadway play about religion, morality and authority. Carrying the major burden of the film, Streep will no doubt receive her 15th Oscar nomination for playing a nun whose rigid values and wish to maintain order might blind her ability to seek truth and justice.continue > |
B+ |
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Christmas Tale, AOpens November 14, 2008 Cannes Film Fest 2008--Blurring the lines between a TV mini-series and a tight filmic narrative, and highly reliant on naturalistic dialogue and superlative acting, Arnaud Desplechin's "A Christmas Tale" is a bravura piece of filmmaking, telling the story of a three-generational dysfunctional family with a cast of at least 15 characters, each fully developed. Despite excessive running time (151 minutes), the movie is always engaging and often emotionally touching.continue > |
A |
Film reviews and Internet movie reviews by film critic Emanuel Levy. This film review database contains thousands of movie reviews on many different film genres along with profiles of your favorite movie stars and film directors. You can also find movie reviews of independent cinema shown in festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, foreign film reviews as well as DVD reviews. Movie critic Emanuel Levy is known for his accurate Oscar predictions, so be sure to visit the Oscar News section.
SPOTLIGHT
Revolutionary Road: What You Need to Know about the NovelImmediately, intensely and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece of modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is--Tennessee Williams about Yates novelcontinue >
COMMENT
Twilight by Catherine HardwickeWhen I read the book, I was swept away with the whole obsession, that ecstasy. Stephenie writes with such an authentic voice. Twilight had the potential to be so visual and cinematic and to capture that feeling: how it feels to be in love for the first time, and loving somebody so much that you'd literally be willing to turn into a vampire--Director Catherine Hardwickecontinue >
