Life
Boston Marathon bombing docudrama is sloppy at best
At one point in “Patriots Day” law-enforcement officials scrambling to find the Boston Marathon bombers reconstruct the crime…
Life
‘A Monster Calls’: Way too much storytelling
Monster movies, fairy tales, children’s books — one thing these things have in common is the way they…
Life
‘Mifune: The Last Samurai’ just scratches the surface
If one of the definitions of a movie star is that there is no one else quite like…
Life
‘Hidden Figures’ shares untold story of the race to space
If it were more purely about the workplace and less about the homefront, “Hidden Figures” might have an…
Life
Sidney Lumet documentary is suprisingly lackluster
Sidney Lumet had a colorful life and spent his professional career in proximity to many powerful talents.
Life
Horton’s list of Hollywood losses in 2016
Almost from the beginning of 2016, people have been talking about the high death toll amongst culture heroes.…
Life
Verhoeven’s ‘Elle’ is cuttingly clever
I can think of a few reasons “Elle” has been getting raves and awards from movie critics. For…
Life
Horton’s 10 best and 10 worst movies of the year
While everybody else wonders whether 2016 was the worst year in the world since 1968, or simply the…
Life
True story of ‘Lion’ tugs at heart strings
There’s a Google search in “Lion” that is one of the better such sequences on film.
Life
‘Eyes of My Mother’ will creep you out
There’s a certain kind of arthouse horror picture that uses subtle craft, a discreet sense of menace and…
Life
‘Things to Come’ a melodrama masterpiece
There is enough potential melodrama in “Things to Come” to fuel a half-year of daily soap opera: extramarital…
Life
Gosling, Stone hearken old days of Hollywood in ‘La La Land’
It aspires to gossamer and moonbeams, to bygone eras of jazz and black-and-white movies, to Gene Kelly and…
Life
Natalie Portman gives laser-focused performance in ‘Jackie’
I was sitting on a plane once next to two women gazing at a magazine cover featuring Jacqueline…
Life
Chastain brings it as high-powered lobbyist ‘Miss Sloane’
At the heart of “Miss Sloane”— and a rather cool heart it is — lies a question: Why…
Life
Wait for the third act revelation in this Chinese film noir
The spirit of film noir lives on in Johnny Ma’s “Old Stone,” a downward spiral set in contemporary…
Life
Casey Affleck carries ‘Manchester’ with convincing performance
In many movies, flashbacks are a way of providing information. In “Manchester by the Sea,” the copious flashbacks…
Life
‘Nocturnal Animals’ doubles down on unpleasantness
Two parallel stories
unfold in “Nocturnal
Animals.” Both are unpleasant.
Life
‘Bad Santa 2’ an unneccesary sequel to the funny 2003 hit
The thing about “Bad Santa” is that it’s really a one-off. That outrageous 2003 hit featured Billy Bob…
Life
‘The Love Witch’ casts a magically hilarious spell
Nothing else this year beats “The Love Witch” for sheer grooviness. This retro movie is full of blue…
Life
Beatty’s take on Howard Hughes, mid-century L.A. offers insights
Warren Beatty turns 80 next year, and he’s been talking about directing a film on Howard Hughes for…