Falling in Love With '28 Hotel Rooms'

Months after attending this year's Sundance, it occurs to me that my two favorite films at the festival had something in common -- and ...

Checking In With 'The Sessions'

When I saw The Surrogate back at Sundance, I liked it with some reservations. I wanted to revisit the film before it came out, and so the t...

Back Stage: I'll Take 'The Words' Over 'Bachelorette'

The silly but fun The Words opens this weekend, and it leads my Back Stage column. Also in there you'll find my thoughts on For Ellen ,...

On the Great 'Keep the Lights On'

At this year's Sundance, I didn't have a chance to see Keep the Lights On , the latest from director Ira Sachs ( Forty Shades of Blu...

'Compliance': Let the Debate Begin

I've been raving about Compliance since Sundance. At last, the film is finally opening in theaters, and I expect a wide range of opini...

A Few More Words on My 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Piece

As a fan of Glenn Kenny's for a while, I'm sorry that he despised my piece on Beasts of the Southern Wild , where I detailed my pro...

The Case Against 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'

One of the things I struggle with in regards to writing on the web is this notion that there are only two types of film writing: You either ...

Sundance 2012: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

And so we come to the end of another Sundance film festival. All in all, I saw 32 films, including a couple I checked out at Toronto last ye...

Sundance 2012: '28 Hotel Rooms' Review

You would assume that the strongest offerings at Sundance would be in the competition sections, but for my money the two best movies I'v...

Sundance 2012: 'Mosquita y Mari' review

Two teen Chicana girls share a close personal bond in Mosquita y Mari , but does that mean they're in love with one another? That's ...

Sundance 2012: 'For Ellen' review

For Ellen is the third film from writer-director So Yong Kim, and by this point in her career, you should know what to expect from her movie...

Sundance 2012: 'The Words' review

I think I'm really starting to turn the corner on Bradley Cooper. Where once he did nothing for me, now I'm enjoying his onscreen pr...

Sundance 2012: 'Gypsy Davy' review

I haven't had a chance to see any documentaries yet at this year's Sundance -- I've been focusing on features for the first half...

Sundance 2012: 'Goats' review

Generally speaking, Sundance's Premieres section is where they spotlight indie-ish films that will eventually get into theaters. They...

Sundance 2012: 'Black Rock' review

Director Katie Aselton's first film was The Freebie , about a married couple who decide that since their sex life is in a rut they'r...

Sundance 2012: 'Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie' review

Don't have the mistaken impression that all the movies at Sundance are stunning works of independent and world cinema. Some of them are ...

Sundance 2012: 'LUV' review

LUV is a film I wanted to like, but I just couldn't get all the way there. It tells the story of an 11-year-old African-American (Michae...

Sundance 2012: 'For a Good Time, Call...' review

For a Good Time, Call... looks like the sort of movie that when it hits theaters will be described as "this year's Bridesmaids ....

Sundance 2012: 'Smashed' review

Smashed is hardly a momentous or revelatory movie, but I wish more American indies were like it. Small-scaled but emotionally honest, it tel...

Sundance 2012: 'Compliance' review

I had been impressed with Craig Zobel's first film, Great World of Sound , but nothing prepared me for what he would do next. That would...