'Dark Horse'

Sep 5, 2013

'Dark Horse'

Director: Todd Solondz Language: English Todd Solondz is known for bringing a host of uncomfortable characters and situations to the screen — first prize is probably Philip Seymour Hoffman’s obscene phone caller in “Happiness” — and “Dark Horse” is no exception, a twisted rom-com ...

'On the Road'

Aug 29, 2013

'On the Road'

How do you make a movie version of “On the Road,” author Jack Kerouac’s near stream-of-consciousness ode to bumming back and forth across Eisenhower-era 1950s America and Mexico in hitched rides, purloined cars and hobo boxcars in a blur of jazz joints, poetry and ...

'The Walking Dead Season 3'

Aug 29, 2013

'The Walking Dead Season 3'

Director: Various Language: English Season 3 of everyone’s favorite zombie series is finally out to rent here, just as the trailers for Season 4 on U.S. TV are making the rounds. Ex-cop Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his band of survivors find a place ...

'End of Watch'

Aug 22, 2013

'End of Watch'

Is there anything new left to be done with the buddy-cop genre? Probably not, but “End of Watch” gives it a damn good shot. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as a couple of LAPD officers who patrol one of Los Angeles’ roughest neighborhoods, ...

'The Mexican Suitcase'

Aug 22, 2013

'The Mexican Suitcase'

War photographer Robert Capa is known for being the first to engage in frontline photography; prior to Capa, photos would be taken before or after a battle, but rarely during, for obvious reasons. Yet Capa, with colleagues Gerda Taro and David “Chim” Seymour, took ...

From One Second to the Next

Aug 22, 2013

From One Second to the Next

Director: Werner Herzog Language: English “It’s life. You get one chance, and you live with the choices you make.” Director Werner Herzog’s latest may be a work for hire — a 35-minute documentary for AT&T on the consequences of texting and driving — but ...

'White House Down'

Aug 15, 2013

'White House Down'

Hollywood movies are all starting to feel the same these days, but in some cases almost literally. Just check out “White House Down,” a “Die Hard”-in-D.C. popcorn flick that is almost exactly the same movie as “Olympus Has Fallen,” which was released earlier this ...

'Garbage in the Garden of Eden'

Aug 15, 2013

'Garbage in the Garden of Eden'

German-Turkish director Fatih Akin, best known locally for 2005′s excellent doc on Istanbul’s music scene “Crossing the Bridge,” turns his attention to a small tea-growing village called Camburnu on the coast of the Black Sea. This was the hometown of Akin’s grandparents, and it’s ...

'It's Such a Beautiful Day'

Aug 15, 2013

'It's Such a Beautiful Day'

Director: Don Hertzfeldt Language: English Cinema is constantly cross-breeding, but a hybrid of Stan Brakhage’s impressionistic art cinema with naif stick-figure line drawing and overlapping narration like The Velvet Underground’s “The Murder Mystery” is not something I’d expected. One-man animator Don Hertzfeldt’s feature seamlessly ...

The dead get their day as zombies go mainstream

Aug 8, 2013

The dead get their day as zombies go mainstream

My first zombie movie was “Night of the Living Dead,” viewed at a midnight screening at the old Harvard Square Cinema, attended by a small coterie of late-night freaks and stoners. With its relentless dread and entrail-chomping ghouls, it was a film beyond the ...

'World War Z'

Aug 8, 2013

'World War Z'

I recall watching “Quantum of Solace,” the 007 movie directed by Marc Forster, and thinking, “This man should never have been put in charge of an action movie.” A fine director of art-house fare such as “Finding Neverland” or “The Kite Runner,” Forster handled ...

'Ashes of Time Redux (Rakuen no Kizu)'

Aug 8, 2013

'Ashes of Time Redux (Rakuen no Kizu)'

Director: Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin (subtitled in Japanese) Before “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai had already done a martial-arty film, and better. Now, 1996′s “The Ashes of Time” gets a rerelease on DVD, with a gorgeously restored print, but a cut that’s mysteriously seven ...