21 Jump Street (2012)

Comedy Rated R

Well, how about that? It isn’t terrible! That was the general reaction to this big-screen adaptation of the 1980s television series about narcs going undercover in high school, and I’d concur. Other reviewers went further and cited it as one of the year’s top comedies, but for me that would require the ratio of d*@k

Mirror, The (1997)

Drama Rated NR

The two dominant strands of post-revolution Iranian cinema – quaint neorealism and thick meta theory – come together in this wily experiment from writer-director-editor Jafar Panahi. The Mirror begins as the simple tale of Mina (Mina Mohammad Khani), a little girl whose mother is late to pick her up from school. Setting her face in

Dark Knight Rises, The (2012)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

"…a far more conventional narrative arc, not to mention an alarming amount of franchise care."

The Deep Blue Sea (2012)

Drama Rated R

If The Deep Blue Sea had maintained the bravura formalist intensity of its opening third – all rich image and swooning score, like a silent film told in lushly burnished Instagram hues – writer-director Terence Davies may have fashioned some sort of retro masterpiece. As it is, we’re simply left with one of the best

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Drama Rated PG-13

"Clever, but not clever enough to make its central conceit work."

Casa de mi Padre (2012)

Comedy Rated R

“If it sounds Spanish, man, that’s what it is. A Spanish movie.” Or is it? That’s the opening voiceover narration to Casa de mi Padre, a Spanish-language comic-melodrama influenced by Mexican telenovelas, Spaghetti Westerns, grindhouse gore and Will Ferrell farces. The one thing it isn’t, actually, is Spanish. So let’s just say this: Casa de

Key Largo (1948)

Drama Rated NR

“…belongs to its villain, through and through.”

Gaslight (1944)

Thriller Rated NR

Overwrought to contemporary eyes, perhaps, but still troubling and, in its own way, powerful. Adapted from the Patrick Hamilton play, this 1944 screen version features Charles Boyer – baritone a-rumble and eyebrows a-wriggle – as Gregory Anton, new husband to Ingrid Bergman’s Paula Alquist. Paula has survived one trauma – as a child she discovered

Killer Joe (2012)

Thriller Rated NC-17

"…wears its sleaze like a ratty stole dug out from a bin at the ‘thrifty.’"

Shotgun Stories (2007)

Drama Rated PG-13

The feature debut of writer-director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), Shotgun Stories deals in sins of fathers, feuds of brothers and all sorts of Biblically infused, familial drama. It’s weighty stuff, yet also told with a familiar matter-of-factness that makes you feel as if you could be hearing this story as gossip while sitting on a