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Weekend Rebels
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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I hate the clichéd expression heart-warming, but this dramatized version of their life is such a pitch-perfect depiction of the realities of life with someone on the autism spectrum that it really touched me.
Posted Jul 03, 2024
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About Dry Grasses
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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The plot threads come together and then unravel as the story moves along slowly through its 197-minute running time... This movie wouldn’t have been harmed by a little script cutting, which might have sharpened the characters and made them more vivid.
Posted Jun 27, 2024
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Ezra
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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[Ezra] gives a nuanced, realistic, and heartrending look at a boy with autism and his family, which tells truths that Rain Man glossed over.
Posted Jun 21, 2024
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Treasure
(2024)
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Hannah Brown
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A moving and often surprisingly funny character-driven story of intergenerational Holocaust trauma.
Posted Jun 21, 2024
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The Commandant's Shadow
(2024)
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Hannah Brown
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As is so often the case, the truth is far more interesting, and more layered, than its fictional depiction.
Posted Jun 10, 2024
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Unfrosted
(2024)
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Hannah Brown
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It’s silly -- and, if you’re in the right mood, it’s fun. It reminds us that much of the comedy on Seinfeld was pretty goofy, which is part of why people loved it.
Posted May 15, 2024
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Kiss Me Kosher
(2020)
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Hannah Brown
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A terrific and lively cast does great work in both the serious and comic scenes and Kiss Me Kosher is an affectionate and knowing portrait of the diversity of Israeli life.
Posted Apr 26, 2024
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Irena's Vow
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Irena’s Vow gives us a look into the life of the kind of person we all hope we would be if we found ourselves tested like this.
Posted Apr 19, 2024
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White Bird
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Most of it is gracefully done and quite moving.
Posted Apr 12, 2024
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Anatomy of a Fall
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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[Hüller] just seems so much like a real person that you won’t be able to take your eyes off of her whenever she’s on screen -- even if you will go back and forth about whether you would want this character for a friend.
Posted Apr 04, 2024
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One Life
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Winton’s wartime heroism and its emotional toll on him decades later, told in two time frames. His is an extraordinary story, with a strong payoff and stellar performances by two-time Oscar winner Hopkins and a star-studded supporting cast.
Posted Apr 04, 2024
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TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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It features Swift singing her hits, with her trademark mix of charisma, sexiness, and vulnerability which made her into a superstar when she was still a teenager.
Posted Mar 29, 2024
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DogMan
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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[Besson] is a born storyteller and his films, including DogMan, are undeniably entertaining. He knows how to pick actors with great presence.
Posted Mar 21, 2024
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Robot Dreams
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Robot Dreams has many virtues, one of which is that it is a wordless story, told visually and by music and sound effects, recalling the Pixar 2008 film, WALL-E by Andrew Stanton.
Posted Mar 01, 2024
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From Hilde, With Love
(2024)
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Hannah Brown
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In a brilliant, understated performance by Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Fries, Coppi is portrayed as a shy, bookish young woman, devoted to her mother, who chose to do the right thing out of deep personal conviction.
Posted Feb 23, 2024
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The Holdovers
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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The three leads work well together and you will root for them, although there is a predictability and heavy-handedness to the story that makes it less moving than it would otherwise be.
Posted Feb 14, 2024
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Keeping Up With the Joneses
(2016)
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Hannah Brown
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Dopey but fairly entertaining.
Posted Feb 09, 2024
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The Boy and the Heron
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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If you can flow with the feelings behind the movie and see it as a well-observed version of the psyche of a fragile and traumatized child, you will find much to enjoy and, as if it were a dream, you may find yourself thinking about it for days after.
Posted Feb 08, 2024
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Shoshana
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Somehow, the wide canvas here doesn’t present a satisfying picture, despite the echoes of the conflict that continue till today. I almost wished this were a mini-series rather than a movie, so each character could be developed further.
Posted Jan 31, 2024
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How to Have Sex
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Walker masterfully creates a kind of hellish underworld in hot, crowded clubs and poolside parties, where you can virtually smell the sweat and the booze.
Posted Jan 19, 2024
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20,000 Species of Bees
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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The movie veers in so many directions that it loses focus, and while there are some sweet moments, it lacks any real sting.
Posted Jan 11, 2024
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Riceboy Sleeps
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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The entire cast is excellent, and the young actors are utterly believable in their scenes. But the real star of the movie is Choi Seung-Yoon, who gives a wonderful performance as the mother.
Posted Dec 28, 2023
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On the Adamant
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Philibert seems to be aware of the dangers of romanticizing or downplaying the impact of mental illness in this moving and sad film.
Posted Dec 19, 2023
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Maestro
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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The script isn’t bad so much as wrong, from beginning to end, barely giving a sense of why Bernstein was such an iconic figure on the American cultural landscape, and focusing on some of the blandest and least interesting aspects of his life.
Posted Dec 13, 2023
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Northern Comfort
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Northern Comfort, which combines a fear-of-flying comedy with a trope about people getting stuck in an out-of-the-way place, is gentle entertainment filled with good performances by familiar faces.
Posted Dec 01, 2023
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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It features a fascinating fact-based story, some brilliantly filmed set pieces, and a great ensemble cast with some of America’s finest actors.
Posted Dec 01, 2023
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The Levys of Monticello
(2021)
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Hannah Brown
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The fascinating story of a Jewish family that owned Thomas Jefferson’s historic Virginia residence...
Posted Nov 27, 2023
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Never Too Late for Love
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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Astolfo is such an appealing character that there isn’t a huge amount of suspense as to how all this will end, but is enjoyable to watch it play out.
Posted Nov 16, 2023
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Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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If you know Brooks and his comedy, you’ll be eager to see this movie, and if you’re not familiar with him, this is a great way to find out who he is.
Posted Nov 16, 2023
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Diary of a Fleeting Affair
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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While there is something inconsequential about the story, since its characters are so far removed from what most of us think of as real life, there is something pleasant about joining them in their universe of romance and sex.
Posted Nov 09, 2023
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Love Life
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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Love Life isn’t an easy film to watch, because much of it is simply so deeply sad, but it is moving and doesn’t go for neat resolutions.
Posted Oct 11, 2023
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Coup de Chance
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Coup de Chance is so lackluster that it’s almost as if someone fed an AI program the command: Write a script in French about an adulterous affair that inspires violent jealousy, set in Paris -- and throw in some literary dialogue.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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Jeanne du Barry
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Much of the escapist fun comes not so much from the story, but from simply enjoying the lavish gowns and ornate décor, and there is enough of both to keep most viewers occupied, even given the movie’s weaknesses.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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A Brighter Tomorrow
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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A rare film that will make you think and feel good, at the same time.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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The Mountain
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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Pierre’s story might be worth an hour, but that isn’t ordinarily considered long enough for a movie. Perhaps that is why the science-fiction elements were added in.
Posted Sep 07, 2023
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You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Hats off to the writers, Alison Peck and Fiona Rosenbloom (on whose book the movie is based), for writing funny, often surprisingly touching, dialogue and creating a heroine and her friends who seem like real tween girls.
Posted Aug 31, 2023
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Golda
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Helen Mirren gives an extraordinary performance as the late Israeli prime minister, in a story that focuses on her handling of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the most challenging crisis of her political career.
Posted Aug 24, 2023
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Past Lives
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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It’s fine for a movie not to spell everything out, in fact, it’s preferable. But in Past Lives, Nora’s opacity left me uninvolved at times.
Posted Aug 10, 2023
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Barbie
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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I couldn’t help thinking about how Barbie has already been a big-screen character in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, where the filmmakers used her more cleverly than anything that is done here.
Posted Jul 26, 2023
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The City
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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There have been Israeli movie musicals before, but there hasn’t been one that was so successfully filmed, in a long time, nor can I remember anything this original.
Posted Jul 07, 2023
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Broker
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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If you don’t know Kore-eda’s movies, such as the wonderful films After Life, Our Little Sister, After the Storm and Still Walking, Broker would be a good introduction to his work.
Posted Jul 06, 2023
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Asteroid City
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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Watching [it] feels more like taking a test than seeing a film: a test of your appreciation and knowledge of pop-culture artifacts and your willingness to follow dozens of characters down a rabbit-hole of retro cinematic and literary symbols and images.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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Maggie Moore(s)
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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It gives me no joy to report that the movie is a disappointment, a leaden pastiche of Coen brothers’ films that I would have walked out of halfway had I not been reviewing it.
Posted Jun 15, 2023
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The Eight Mountains
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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All of the actors are good and the standouts are the two boys and Alessandro Borghi as the adult Bruno.
Posted Jun 07, 2023
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My Happy Ending
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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The movie is far more entertaining than the premise would suggest, and it movingly represents Gov’s plea for us to speak more openly and realistically about death.
Posted Jun 01, 2023
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Cairo Conspiracy
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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Saleh is a born storyteller and the cinematography and soundtrack combine with the screenplay and formidable acting to make Boy from Heaven into a fascinating drama.
Posted May 26, 2023
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You Hurt My Feelings
(2023)
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Hannah Brown
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While it’s enjoyable to watch much of this play out, I kept waiting for a big comic or dramatic payoff that never came. The on-the-nose title is a hint about the lack of subtext in the film.
Posted May 26, 2023
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Tori and Lokita
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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The Dardenne brothers have succeeded, with Tori and Lokita, in putting human faces on those who are usually nameless and anonymous.
Posted May 12, 2023
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Return to Dust
(2022)
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Hannah Brown
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It's a slow-paced movie, which demands patience from viewers, and will be too austere for the vast majority of moviegoers.
Posted Apr 27, 2023
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Beautiful Minds
(2021)
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Hannah Brown
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Usually, I either like or dislike a movie, but with Beautiful Minds, I kept going back and forth, finding it alternately charming and cloying.
Posted Apr 14, 2023
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