Film Reviews Archives - Page 18 of 29

‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ Gets 5-Star Rating

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|March 1, 2014 |0

*****NOTE TO EDITORS: THIS REVIEW IS EMBARGOED FROM PUBLICATION UNTIL SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014.**** By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is so picture-book pretty, smartly constructed and thoroughly enchanting that a brief stay there will leave visito [...]

Olsen and Isaac Invigorate ‘In Secret’ – 4 Photos

Film Reviews By Peter Gonzaga|February 20, 2014 |0

Click on photo for hi-res version then right click to save [...]

Olsen and Isaac Invigorate ‘In Secret’

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|February 20, 2014 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic The impressively acted, well written and beautifully shot period piece “In Secret” manages to morph from a convincingly Dickensian coming-of-age tale into a grimly suspenseful film noir without getting too garishly gothic about it. Combin [...]

‘Monuments Men’ Mixes Forgery and Facts

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|February 5, 2014 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic “The Monuments Men” alternates between a bland bloodlessness that even a couple of cast-member killings can’t make moving and director/co-writer George Clooney’s usual brand of smirking self-satisfaction that trivializes the b [...]

Kazan Twice as Nice in ‘The Pretty One’

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|February 3, 2014 |0

*****NOTE TO EDITORS: Review is embargoed until February 7, 2014.***** By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Actress Zoe Kazan (“Ruby Sparks”) does adorable double duty as different but identical twin sisters in the appealing light dramedy “The Pretty One” by firs [...]

‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Wins the Year

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|December 23, 2013 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Director Martin Scorsese’s manic, hilarious, deliciously depraved and unexpectedly epic “The Wolf of Wall Street” is so much wild and crazy wall-to-wall fun that it’s by far the most enjoyable movie I’ve seen all year. I [...]

Critic’s Choice: James Dawson’s 10 Favorite (and Least Liked) Films of 2013

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|December 19, 2013 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic No one can see every movie that makes it to the multiplexes, which is why it’s a good idea to be skeptical of any critic claiming to have a “10 Best” list this time of year. Instead, here are my 10 favorites of the films I caught [...]

Getting to the Heart of ‘Her’

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|December 18, 2013 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Writer/director Spike Jonze’s thoroughly modern romance “Her” is one of the most thought-provoking films of the year, raising intriguing questions about what constitutes not only love but life itself. The most pertinent here is whet [...]

‘Anchorman 2’ More Adequate Than Legendary

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|December 17, 2013 |0

****NOTE TO EDITORS: THIS REVIEW IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 12/18/13**** By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic More adequate than legendary and far too long, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” brings back Will Ferrell’s pompously bombastic news reader Ron Burgundy for a seven- [...]

‘Walter Mitty’ Scraps Imagination for Action

Film Reviews Reviews By Angela Dawson|December 12, 2013 |0

By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Here’s the secret that apparently eluded the makers of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”: Eliminating the elaborate CGI fantasies that serve as its main advertising draw actually would have improved the movie. This well photographed [...]