Problem is, little of it is clear. Worse, most of it gets drowned in so much guts and gore, not to mention irredeemably abuse and sexism, listening to it is close to impossible. The Hateful Eight has lots to love, but just as much to abhor, making it something an elegant enigma that’s as frustrating as it is impressive.

[Magic Mike XXL] is a blast, an animated shot of bare-chested adrenaline that’s easy to drink and even more satisfying to savor, the sequel stripping inhibitions to the point they vanish leaving only pleasure behind.

I’m not entirely sure Paddington, adapted from the works of creator Michael Bond, could be any more delightful than it actually is, the film as divine a piece of family entertainment as any I could have fantasized about. A loving homage to the source material.

In the case of this 169-minute 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets Contact epic, it is likely Nolan’s reach exceeded his grasp, much of this otherworldly adventure never gelling together in ways that are comfortable or satisfying. Yet Interstellar is unabashedly thrilling, euphoric and mesmerizing.

I Origins is a beautiful treatise on self, human understanding, religion, science and most of all faith. It moves, shifts and evolves in naturalistic fastidiousness, everything building to a magnificent conclusion.

But the central dynamics remain strong throughout, and when you add Peña’s magnificent performance and Luna’s concentrated direction in the equation Cesar Chavez ends up being a far more invigorating and informative biography than it probably should have been.

Whether one believes in this tale as one of gospel or just looks at it as a grandly amazing yarn of sacrifice and salvation, Aronofsky’s Noah is a Biblical epic that transcends easy generalizations becoming a significant achievement worthy of multiple viewings.

Understated, profound, moving and beautiful, Trueba’s latest is a divine examination of the creation process set amidst unimaginable strife and turmoil. In all the ways that matter most, The Artist and the Model is the director’s best film yet.

Clooney’s Monuments Men a Well-Intentioned Disappointment George Clooney’s latest directorial effort The Monuments Men is both too much and too little both at the exact same time. The film is an episodic endeavor attempting to tell a story much larger and more fragmented than its 118 minute running time allows to be easily processed. At […]