Movie Reviews

Arts

'Seymour': A Loving Portrait Of An Acclaimed Classical Pianist

2:01pm March 20, 2015

by John Powers

Seymour: An Introduction is an inspiring new documentary by the actor Ethan Hawke. It's about Seymour Bernstein, who quit a successful concert career at the age of 50 to become a piano teacher.

Queue Listen Now

It Follows "inverts the abstinence metaphor behind most teen horror flicks," says NPR film critic Bob Mondello.

Arts

What's Familiar Becomes Unnerving In 'It Follows'

8:00pm March 13, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews It Follows, a film that he says works some interesting changes on the horror genre.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Horror Film Fans Beware: 'It Follows' Isn't The Fun Kind Of Scare

1:37pm March 13, 2015

by David Edelstein

The film is about a teenage girl who sleeps with a boy and is suddenly under a curse. Critic David Edelstein says he didn't enjoy feeling "sick with dread," but the ending is unexpectedly moving.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Gone Girl': A Gripping Film That's More Fun Than The Book

3:31pm March 12, 2015

by David Edelstein

Based on a screenplay by author Gillian Flynn, the movie is sensationally effective. It's made like a classic noir — evenly paced, with an elegance that in context is deeply perverse.

Queue Listen Now

Being Unoriginal Is Not The Biggest Problem For 'Chappie'

2:52pm March 06, 2015

by Kenneth Turan

Chappie is the new film from director Neil Blomkamp about a robot that becomes humanity's last hope. It echoes everything from Dr. Frankenstein's creation to the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

In The Northern Ireland Period Thriller '71,' No One Dies Well

1:43pm March 06, 2015

by David Edelstein

The film is about an English private who is cut off from his unit in the middle of a riot in Belfast in 1971. It's a conventional and smashingly good chase melodrama, but it's also a tragedy.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Maps To The Stars': Either The Funniest Horror Movie, Or The Most Horrific Comedy

3:43pm March 02, 2015

by David Edelstein

In the film about a toxic Hollywood, John Cusack plays a self-help guru whose clients include Julianne Moore. It's full of anxious shoptalk and name dropping, druggy kids and druggier grown-ups.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Of Con Men And Dames: How Margot Robbie Gets Robbed In 'Focus'

1:01pm March 02, 2015

by Linda Holmes

Will Smith plays a con man in Focus, but unfortunately, the woman playing opposite him has depressingly little to do.

Eastern Boys begins as a home invasion story but evolves to something more complex, says NPR film critic Bob Mondello.

Arts

Tense 'Eastern Boys': Cruising, and Bruising

8:13pm February 27, 2015

by Bob Mondello

NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews Eastern Boys, a French film that is half love story, half home invasion drama.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

In These Six 'Wild Tales,' Humans Morph Into Destructive Forces Of Nature

1:34pm February 20, 2015

by David Edelstein

The Argentinean film co-produced by Pedro Almodovar is up for an Oscar for best foreign language film. It features a drunk teenager who runs over a woman and an angry bride at a glitzy Jewish wedding.

Queue Listen Now