David Edelstein Author Archive

movie review Sept. 26, 2014

Movie Review: The EqualizerThere’s a special kind of hell for artists who array vigilante revenge-porn in saintly garb.

movie review Sept. 26, 2014

Pride Has One of the Best British Casts in Recent MemoryGay activists meet striking miners in ‘80s England in this new dramedy.

movie review Sept. 19, 2014

Somewhere in the Mess of This Is Where I Leave You Is a Good MovieStarring a killer cast of TV actors — Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, and Connie Britton.

movie review Sept. 19, 2014

Movie Review: A Walk Among the TombstonesStarring Liam Neeson as a grim New York City detective.

movie review Sept. 17, 2014

Tracks Is Powerful, Once It Finds Its FootingMia Wasikowska treks 1,700 miles across the harsh Australian desert in this adaptation of Robyn Davidson’s celebrated memoir.

movie review Sept. 12, 2014

Movie Review: The Disappearance of Eleanor RigbyBut, hey: Jessica Chastain.

movie review Sept. 12, 2014

Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini Transcend Grim The DropOn Gandolfini’s last film role.

movie reviews Sept. 12, 2014

The Skeleton Twins Is a Mite Tidy, But Very EnjoyableBill Hader and Kristen Wiig play siblings trying to save each other from the effects of terrible parenting, sexual trauma, and their own innate craziness.

movie review Sept. 10, 2014

Movie Review: The Beautifully Filmed Memphis Doesn’t Add Up to MuchWhat happens when an artist can no longer conjure up their own world?

movie review Sept. 5, 2014

Last Days in Vietnam Is the Best Kind of DocumentaryIt ties you up in knots.

movie review Sept. 5, 2014

The Punk Force Is Strong in German Gross-Out Film WetlandsIt wants to make you more than squirm; it wants to make you retch.

movie review Aug. 29, 2014

Kevin Kline Does His Best Errol Flynn in The Last of Robin HoodFor a film with an affair at its center, true love oddly seems outside the flick’s purview.

movie review Aug. 29, 2014

Starred Up Is an Edgy, Teeming Prison ThrillerStarring Jack O’Connell.

movie review Aug. 22, 2014

Is It Possible for Matthew Weiner to Be Matthew Weiner on the Big Screen?The mind behind Mad Men directs an Owen Wilson film.

movie review Aug. 22, 2014

Movie Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill ForRobert Rodriguez and Frank Miller return for more black-and-white carnage.

movie review Aug. 20, 2014

Movie Review: The One I LoveStarring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss.

movie review Aug. 19, 2014

Ira Sachs’s Love Is Strange Attains a Strange State of GraceAn elderly gay couple battles the New York real-estate market.

movie review Aug. 15, 2014

Movie Review: Life After BethStarring Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza.

movie review Aug. 14, 2014

The Trip to Italy Is Enjoyable, Even If It Aims Too HighUneasy mates Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden return—or, rather, depart once more.

obits Aug. 11, 2014

Robin Williams, 1951–2014: The Measure of the Man Was VastWhat seemed natural (or supernatural) had hours of practice and pain and self-doubt behind it.

movie review Aug. 1, 2014

Rich Hill: This Vital Documentary Gives You a World of HurtA look at three impoverished Missouri teens.

movie review Aug. 1, 2014

Movie Review: James Franco’s Child of GodThe appearance of artlessness is part of Franco’s strategy.

movie review Aug. 1, 2014

Brendan Gleeson Is an Irish Priest With Problems in the Miserable CalvaryCo-starring Game of Thrones’ Aidan Gillen and Domhnall Gleeson, Brendan’s son.

movie review July 25, 2014

Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight: A Dead Rabbit Pulled Out of a HatStarring Emma Stone and Colin Firth.

movies July 25, 2014

Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory on A Master BuilderLots of Ibsen talk.

movie review July 25, 2014

Hoffman Is at His Peak in A Most Wanted ManBased on a John le Carré novel.

movie review July 25, 2014

Luc Besson’s Lucy Is Outlandishly EntertainingIt’s a fun mixture of high silliness and high style.

movie review July 24, 2014

The Kill Team Is an Essential DocumentaryNo matter what your political convictions.

movie review July 22, 2014

Jonathan Demme’s A Master Builder Is Madly, Bitingly, Chillingly AliveBeat by beat, it brings out the genius of playwright Henrik Ibsen.

movie review July 18, 2014

I Origins Transmogrifies an Interesting Indie Premise Into Sci-Fi CornA love triangle about eyes.

movie review July 18, 2014

Sex Tape Is a Surprisingly Old-Fashioned Farce for the iPad GenerationA classic Disney-esque caper that could have been titled That Darn Sex Tape.

movie review July 11, 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Is an Excellent Post-Apocalyptic BromanceThis is some bleak stuff right here.

movie review July 10, 2014

Movie Review: BoyhoodA dozen years of filming spent wisely.

movie review July 3, 2014

Snowpiercer: At Last, a Fun Dystopian Sci-Fi EpicIt’s like a stoned leftist’s version of The Poseidon Adventure.

movie review July 3, 2014

Roger Ebert Documentary Life Itself Is a Poignant, Moving PortraitDirector Steve James cuts back and forth between Ebert’s last days and the story of his rise.

movie review July 2, 2014

Tammy Unsuccessfully Tries to Straddle 2 WorldsThe movie co-stars Susan Sarandon and Allison Janney.

movie review June 27, 2014

Movie Review: Begin AgainBy the writer-director of Once.

movie review June 27, 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction Is Basically a ShamblesMichael Bay’s latest is nearly three %$^&%!!# hours, and they’re brain-freezing.

movie review June 20, 2014

Movie Review: The Rover Is Overbaked Art-PulpDirected by Animal Kingdom’s David Michôd.

movie review June 20, 2014

Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys Is a Funny Mix of Formulaic and FreshBased on the jukebox musical of the same name.

movies June 20, 2014

Review: Roman Polanski Self-Flagellates With Venus in FurIn his hands, the casting dims the dazzle.

movie review June 13, 2014

Movie Review: 22 Jump StreetOnce again starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, this time in college.

movie review June 6, 2014

Edelstein on Obvious Child: The Right to Choose AmbivalenceGillian Robespierre’s new comedy, starring Jenny Slate.

movie review June 6, 2014

Edelstein: Edge of Tomorrow Is Fun, Even If the Seams ShowA group of high-paid screenwriters clearly had a hell of a time figuring out how much repetition we can take.

movie review June 5, 2014

Edelstein: The Fault in Our Stars Soars on Its StarletWhatever its faults (they’re not in its stars), the movie evokes the heightened intensity of life in the shadow of death.

movie review May 30, 2014