Good Movie Reviews
If you’re in the market for good movie reviews – that is, well-written reviews of movies worth seeing, then you’re in the right place. It’s harder to praise a film than to pan it, as there are only so many words for great. But these five recent reviews showcase the adjective-finding, metaphor-making, analysis-writing chops of some talented reviewers and some enjoyable films.
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus : Written by Ty Burr for the Boston Globe, this review of the late Heath Ledger’s swansong film is respectful without fawning. Burr, who once upon a time dipped his quill for Entertainment Weekly, clearly understands the movies and loves writing about them. Plus, he knows how to craft a metaphor. He sums up the performances in this film saying, “Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell […]bring a respectful enthusiasm to the game. They could have been this film’s pallbearers; instead, they turn their sections of Imaginarium into a fine Irish wake.”
- Anvil! The Story of Anvil : It’s hard to pick just one of Owen Glieberman’s reviews to spotlight. He churns out good movie reviews week after week as one half of Entertainment Weekly’s dynamic duo of film criticism. But his review of this rock documentary of the heavy metal band that never made it (but should have) is as funny and irreverent as the film and the band themselves. At one point, Glieberman describe the band’s aging leading singer as “a frizzy-haired goofball cherub with eyes that still shine like a child’s — he’s like Howard Stern as drawn by R. Crumb.” Nice one, Owen.
- Avatar : Let’s be clear about something: I wholeheartedly disagree with my colleague’s glowing review of James Cameron’s latest masturbatory filmmaking exercise. Still, I recognize that not only am I in the minority on that opinion, Gregor Turley’s analysis of the film’s technical merits and familiarity with the special effects magic-makers is enlightening. Not to mention the fact that the man can write. Take a look at his nugget: “It may have been 12 long years, but now we know James Cameron didn’t go down with the Titanic…he’s been looking up at the stars.” Now, that’s a parting shot if I’ve ever read one.
- The White Ribbon : This German-language film but it must be doing something right. Not only did it best critical darling Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces for a foreign film Golden Globe this month, it also earned this doting review from Village Voice critic J. Hoberman. This review is certainly not for the faint of heart…or of dictionary. Hoberman’s analysis is top-notch but his writing is style more cerebral and more jam-packed with SAT adjectives than other good movie reviews on this list. But if you’ve got a Webster’s handy, you should definitely give it a read.
- Crazy Heart : Yes, this is another of ours. But this review of the film that’s “as familiar as country song” starring the gifted Jeff Bridges playing a man with an “easygoing smile and an aww shucks ma’am country charisma” is one of my favorite I’ve written to date.
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This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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