Beginners (Mike Mills, 2011)

As precious as it can be, Mike Mills' Beginners  overcomes its occasional indie accoutrements—twee, arty montages à la Wes Anderson abou...

Island of Lost Souls (Eric C. Kenton, 1932)

The film opens on a thick sea fog, a ship piercing out of the mist as if a ghost vessel. When deckhands spot a man floating limply in the wa...

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Bill Condon, 2011)

Only the most cynical financial motivation could lead anyone to split Breaking Dawn , the conclusion to Stephenie Meyer's embarrassing a...

Richard Ellmann — James Joyce

Richard Ellmann's James Joyce  is, quite simply, the best artistic biography I've ever read. Like the work of David McCullough, Ellm...

The Muppets (James Bobin, 2011)

Not three minutes go by in The Muppets  before the filmmakers flaunt their unabashed reverence for Jim Henson's beloved creations. A mon...

Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)

For the six people out there who still love 3D, Hugo  will be the film of the year. To be sure, no other film from any year is so well-suite...

Film Club: Limelight

I greatly enjoyed my first film club chat with Allison of Nerdvampire and was ecstatic when she picked a real blind spot in my movie watchin...

Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)

Getting the chance to sleep for a few days on Paddy Considine's feature debut Tyrannosaur  didn't do the film any favors. While I st...