The Artist This is the month they release the masterpieces, and that’s what this film is. A silent film with musical accompaniment, it tells the story of a silent star (Jean Dujardin) on the way down and a young talkie…
RATING: (SNOOZING VIEWER) Conan the Barbarian This is a laughable, ineptly made remake of the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger epic, with newcomer Jason Momoa as a barbarian bent on revenge. Rated R
The Sound of Music Sing-along: The Castro Theatre has been doing sing-alongs to musicals for a decade or so, and the 1965 box office champ and best picture winner starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and a lot…
RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE) In the early 1930s, there was a brief trend in morally subversive horror, films that suggested a godless or malevolent universe. “Dracula” started the trend, though his fear of the cross at least…
Reviewed by Walter Addiego, Amy Biancolli, Peter Hartlaub and Mick LaSalle RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) Beginners Writer-director Mike Mills zigzags over the decades for this story of a sensitive cartoonist (Ewan McGregor),…
RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 Amateurish in direction and confused in its writing (unless you’ve read the Ayn Rand novel you’ll be lost), this low-budget feature, though at times a preachy right-wing…
“Immortals,” which opens today, is hardly the first movie to raid the myths for screenplay material. And it’s hardly the first to squeeze a large man into tiny clothing as he flexes his will in a quest for undying glory….
RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE) With producers Tony and Ridley Scott leading the charge, this is the best depiction of the Civil War I have ever seen, capturing the absolute horror of the most costly battle ever fought on…
RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) Cars 2 This sequel to the 2006 Pixar animation comedy im-proves on the original with a spy story (involving a conspiracy of famous lemons) and the casting of Michael Caine as a British agent….
Brainstorm: This late film noir, from 1965, is one brilliant, twisted movie.