V.A. Musetto
The Archive
Chinese helmer fights back in ‘The Grandmaster’
Hong Kong master director Wong Kar-wai is back in form with “The Grandmaster,” his first entry since the disastrous “My Blueberry Nights” (2007), which — not coincidentally — was his...
Cliché-filled ‘Blood’ feels lifeless
The title of the plodding British melodrama “Blood” refers not to the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl, whose body is discovered in the movie’s opening minutes, but to the...
‘Drug War’ highly addictive
Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To is a master of high-octane action movies like “Election” and “Sparrow,” but he’s yet to get a breakthrough hit in the US. If any of...
Goons join Nazis in 'Frankenstein's Army'
Alive! It’s alive! In the final days of World War II, a platoon of Russian troops in eastern Germany stumbles upon a secret Nazi lab. There, Viktor Frankenstein (Karel Roden)...
‘The Guillotines’ is so good, you’ll lose your head
The sprawling Chinese epic “The Guillotines’’ offers a myriad of bloodthirsty ways to kill one’s enemies. One unfortunate fellow is drawn and quartered. Others are hanged or mowed down by...
'Hatchet III' review
My prayers weren’t answered. In my 2010 review of “Hatchet II,’’ I implored readers to “say a prayer that there’s no ‘Hatchet III’ in the future.’’ Sad to say, there...
'Pieta' review
‘Pieta’’ is the newest masterpiece of sex and brutality by South Korean wild man Kim Ki-duk. Winner of the top prize at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, it concerns handsome...
'Unmade In China' review
Gil Kofman has an interesting and funny story to tell in his documentary “Unmade in China.’’ Too bad he spends more time talking about himself than detailing his misadventures in...
'The Lords Of Salem' review
Movies by Rob Zombie, the goth rocker turned cult filmmaker, aren’t for everybody. But he couldn’t care less. He makes movies exactly the way he wants to, with no thought...
'Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal' review
Eddie, the titular gentleman in director Boris Rodriguez’s horror-comedy, loves to eat Yummy-O cereal right out of the box. He also enjoys killing and noshing on rabbits and obnoxious neighbors....
A is for atrociously sick movie
Quick, the barf bag! “The ABCs of Death” is an international collection of 26 short “tales about death,” each by a different up-and-coming director and each inspired by a letter...
'War Witch' review
Brutality and tenderness are a potent mix in “War Witch.” The story of child soldiers in Africa is seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl, Komona, who is impressively...
'Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth Of Wonder' review
‘A brave man and a brave poet.” That’s Bob Dylan talking about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, painter, publisher, anarchist, civil libertarian — in this lively documentary by Christopher Felver. Now a...
'Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary' review
The troubling case of black activist-journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been in prison for 30 years for the murder of a white Philadelphia cop in 1981, is examined in this...
Argentine scheme excites
‘Clandestine Childhood’’ is the impressive first feature by Argentine director Benjamín Avila. Based on his own early life, it’s set in 1979, when Argentina was ruled by a harsh military...
Hope floats on ‘Gaza Sea’
‘A Bottle in the Gaza Sea” opens with a black screen and the sounds of a suicide bomber blowing up a cafe in Israel in 2007. The horror prompts a...
‘Let Fury Have The Hour’ review
You have to take the good with the bad. According to the lively documentary “Let Fury Have the Hour’’ — the name comes from a song by the Clash —...
'Waiting For Lightning' review
‘Waiting for Lightning’’ is a fawning documentary about Danny Way, a young skateboard daredevil from a broken home. In 2005, 31-year-old Way, with the help of two giant ramps, jumped...
'Christmas In Compton' review
Isn’t it a bit early for a Christmas movie? The producers of the comedy “Christmas in Compton,’’ directed by David Raynr, obviously don’t think so. Keith David stars as Big...
'Bones Brigade: An Autobiography' review
Even if you’ve never ridden a skateboard or had any interest in people who do, you’ll get a kick out of Stacy Peralta’s documentary “Bones Brigade: An Autography.’’ Back in...