Coherence (2014)
87%RT Audience Score: 81%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 6 nominations
A case study in less-is-more filmmaking, Coherence serves as a compelling low-budget calling card for debuting writer-director James Ward Byrkit
Coherence is like a game of Jenga, but instead of pulling out blocks, you’re pulling out alternate realities. It’s a low-budget sci-fi flick that manages to keep you on the edge of your seat with its clever writing and solid performances. Sure, it’s a bit talky, but that’s part of the charm. Plus, who doesn’t love a movie that makes you question your own existence? Give it a watch and see if you can keep up with all the twists and turns.
Production Company(ies)
Storyville Films, Imagine Documentaries, Storyville
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Nov 4, 2014
Genre(s)
Mystery & Thriller/Sci-Fi
Keyword(s)
Coherence, Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi, James Ward Byrkit, Lene Bausager, Hugo Armstrong, Emily Baldoni, Nicholas Brendon, Elizabeth Gracen, Lauren Maher, Alex Manugian, Box Office, Budget, Critic Reviews, MPAA Rating, Passing Comet, Multidimensional Weirdness, Relationship Dynamics, Philosophical Conceits, Puzzle Box, Existential Terror, California Types, Narcissistic, Tensions, Debuting Writer-Director, Low-Budget, Less-Is-More Filmmaking, Compelling, Talky, Indie Sci-Fi, Ominous Other Worlds, Multiple Realities, Character-Driven, Artifice, Physics, Time-Bending, Solid Performances, Human Level, Ambition, Potential, Taut, Entertaining, Top Horror Movies, MCU Movies, Netflix Series, TV Premiere Dates
Worldwide gross: $139,745
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $174,646
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,951
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 19,045
US/Canada gross: $102,617
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $128,245
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,623
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,000
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $21,246
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,495
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $50,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $62,487
Production budget ranking: 2,148
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $33,649
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $78,509
ROI to date (est.): 82%
ROI ranking: 1,007
Emily Baldoni – Em
Nicholas Brendon – Mike
Elizabeth Gracen – Beth
Lauren Maher – Laurie
Alex Manugian – Amir
James Ward Byrkit – Director/Writer
Lene Bausager – Producer
Director(s)
James Ward Byrkit
Writer(s)
James Ward Byrkit
Producer(s)
Lene Bausager
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (91) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (11)
Coherence was a highlight. A deceptively simple film made with minimal cast, crew, and budget, it boasts more than enough sheer imagination to tip the scale in its favor.
September 24, 2019
Samuel B. Prime
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Considering how much of the film consists of a single group of people becoming increasingly unhinged in a suburban living room, it’s impressive how effectively Byrkit manages to suggest multiple realities and ominous other worlds.
February 15, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
One of its strengths is the attention it pays to character. Scrape away the sci-fi trappings and this emerges as a caustic, closely observed drama about some narcissistic California types with obvious tensions in their lives.
February 13, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
An entertaining, if talky, slice of indie sci-fi that involves one freaky comet and eight good-looking Californians.
February 13, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Charlotte O’Sullivan
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Clever and compelling, though never quite breaking through the sense of artifice.
February 13, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
David Jenkins
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
An ambitious physics and time-bending, relationship drama with solid performances from the two main characters.
February 12, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
With very little money at his disposal, Byrkit turns away from special effects and visual bravado and embraces relationship dynamics and philosophical conceits to give his movie a unique sense of self.
November 12, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
Episode 26: 2019 Movie Preview / Glass / Serenity / Velvet Buzzsaw / Coherence
September 9, 2021 | Rating: 70/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
A taut puzzle box of multidimensional weirdness and fraught existential terror.
February 25, 2021
Toussaint Egan
Polygon
For patient audience members that enjoy an intelligent puzzle, Coherence is certainly worth a look.
August 30, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
Despite minimal effects and taking place over a single night in a single setting, the movie is incredibly entertaining from beginning to end.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Karl Delossantos
Smash Cut Reviews
Coherence is a debut of tremendous ambition and potential, yet sadly, despite some genuine moments of tension, the film ironically makes too many wrong turns and its convoluted themes fail to coalesce on a human level.
April 4, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Patrick Gamble
CineVue…
Plot
On the night of an astronomical anomaly, eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Coherence stars Nicholas Brendon, best known for his role as Xander Harris in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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87%
Calvary (2014)
87%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: 9 wins & 32 nominations
Led by a brilliant performance from Brendan Gleeson, Calvary tackles weighty issues with humor, intelligence, and sensitivity
Calvary is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and question your faith all at the same time. Brendan Gleeson’s performance as the priest is nothing short of amazing, and the Irish coast provides a stunning backdrop for this philosophical and existential examination of one man’s journey. While the plot may meander at times, the kooky residents of the small Irish village will keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat. Overall, Calvary is a must-watch for anyone who loves a good black comedy with a side of drama and a sprinkle of hope.
Production Company(ies)
20th Century Studios, Amblin Entertainment, Amblin Partners
Distributor
Fox Searchlight
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Strandhill, County Sligo, Ireland
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexual references, language, brief strong violence and some drug use
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 45m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United Kingdom
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 1, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 9, 2014
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Marie-Josée Croze, directed by John Michael McDonagh, written by John Michael McDonagh, drama, R-rated, Fox Searchlight, box office gross $3.6M, reviewed by Kate Muir, Anthony Lane, Tom Long, Moira MacDonald, Matthew Lickona, Josh Kupecki, Mike Massie, MaryAnn Johanson, Brent McKnight, Yasser Medina, Leigh Paatsch, Father James, death threat, Catholic priest, sexual abuse, Church, morality, Ireland, community, humor, intelligence, sensitivity, Brendan Gleeson’s performance, brilliant, nuanced, depth, characters, real, ineffective, powerful themes, focused
Worldwide gross: $16,887,741
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $21,105,407
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,695
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,301,571
US/Canada gross: $3,600,006
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,499,097
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,835
US/Canada opening weekend: $74,149
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $92,668
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,959
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Chris O’Dowd – Jack Brennan
Kelly Reilly – Fiona
Aidan Gillen – Frank Harte
Dylan Moran – Fitzgerald
Marie-Josée Croze – Teresa
Director – John Michael McDonagh
Producers – Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo, James Flynn
Writer – John Michael McDonagh
Director(s)
John Michael McDonagh
Writer(s)
John Michael McDonagh
Producer(s)
Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo, James Flynn
Film Festivals
Sundance, Berlin
Awards & Nominations
9 wins & 32 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (171) | Top Critics (59) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (19)
It’s Gleeson who gives the performance of a lifetime as the priest.
December 31, 2017
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The tension of Calvary is fitful at best, and much of the movie trips into silliness, but in Brendan Gleeson — in his proud bearing and his lamenting gaze — we see the plight of the lonely believer in a world beyond belief.
September 22, 2014
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Brendan Gleeson delivers a typically towering yet warm performance in “Calvary.” Too bad the movie’s something of a mess.
August 15, 2014 | Rating: C
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
It serves as a marvelous showcase for Gleeson, a great old-lion actor who shows, in the film’s many close-ups, a quiet, weary yet unbending faith, and a face on which emotion can play like a wave on the beach.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
Writer-director John Michael McDonagh paints a rich portrait of the priestly life (and life in general) by concentrating on the details.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Matthew Lickona
San Diego Reader
TOP CRITIC
Cruel and laced with pitch-black humor, it is a film that will needle its way into your psyche; removing it may prove difficult.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/5
Josh Kupecki
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
The acting is vastly superior to the plot, which meanders around a gathering of usual suspects in a small town of distinctly flawed individuals.
December 4, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
[T]he kooky residents of a small Irish village appear to go search of a black comedy, but get stuck in a dramatic thriller that goes nowhere.
October 19, 2020
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
A philosophical and existential examination of one man pondering the nature of his faith. Unpretentious and precise, full of stunning images of the Irish coast, this is despondent and optimistic, hopeful and resigned, and most of all satisfying.
July 7, 2020 | Rating: A
Brent McKnight
The Last Thing I See
In his second collaboration with John Michael McDonagh, Brendan Gleeson gives us the best performance in his entire career as he conveys the expressions of his character in front of a beach. [Full review in Spanish]
June 26, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
While Calvary could be regarded as a comedy at times, the sense that time is running out – and that Father James will not be running away – keeps the tension levels rising unbearably high.
March 27, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
It’s Gleeson’s understated performance as a man trying to follow Jesus’ example while everyone around him says, “What’s the point?” that elevates Calvary to the realm of the divine.
January 8, 2020
Chris McCoy
Memphis Flyer…
Plot
Father James is a small-town priest in Ireland whose Sunday confessionals suddenly include a threat to kill him in a week’s time as a matter of principle. Deeply troubled and conflicted about how to respond, Father James tries to go on with his calling through that week. However, that proves impossible as he is confronted with a troubling variety of spiritual challenges from both his estranged daughter and his own parishioners. In those dispiriting struggles, Father James’ life begins to fall apart as time runs out towards a confrontation that seems to crystallize his values and what he wants his life to be.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Brendan Gleeson delivers a “brilliant performance of a lifetime” as the priest in Calvary.
John-Michael-McDonagh.jpg
87%
We Are the Best! (2014)
87%RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: 13 wins & 21 nominations
Sweet, empathetic, and shot through with a palpable joy, We Are the Best! offers a tender tribute to the bittersweet tumult of adolescence
We Are the Best! is the ultimate feel-good movie that will have you dancing in your seat and cheering for the underdogs. The trio of teenage girls are a force to be reckoned with as they navigate the ups and downs of adolescence while forming their own punk band. The film is a refreshing departure from the typical Hollywood portrayal of teenage girls and instead offers a relatable and hilarious look at the awkwardness and excitement of growing up. Moodysson’s direction and the performances of the young actresses make this a must-see for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.
Production Company(ies)
Animal Kingdom, Traction Media,
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 42m
-
Language(s):Swedish
-
Country of origin:Denmark, Sweden
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2014
Genre(s)
Keyword(s)
We Are the Best!, drama, Swedish, Lukas Moodysson, Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander, Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne, Johan Liljemark, Mattias Wiberg, Jonathan Salomonsson, reviewed by Chiara Grassia, Kate Muir, Evan Williams, Richard Brody, David Stratton, Paul Byrnes, Michael J Casey, Scott Nye, Chris McCoy, Alexa Dalby, coming-of-age, punk rock, adolescence, friendship, family, rebellion, 1980s Stockholm, Magnolia Pictures, $180.2K box office gross, MPAA rating not specified, sweet, empathetic, joyous, tender, bittersweet, universal, warm, funny, soulful, honest, good-natured, female friendship, Bechdel Test
Worldwide gross: $1,604,273
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,004,936
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,419
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 218,641
US/Canada gross: $180,590
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $225,692
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,525
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,664
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $22,076
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,478
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Mira Grosin – Klara
Liv LeMoyne – Hedvig
Johan Liljemark – Kenneth
Mattias Wiberg – Roger
Jonathan Salomonsson – Elis
Director – Lukas Moodysson
Producers – Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander
Writer – Lukas Moodysson
Director(s)
Lukas Moodysson
Writer(s)
Lukas Moodysson
Producer(s)
Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander
Film Festivals
Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
13 wins & 21 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (138) | Top Critics (54) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (5)
An infectiously joyous coming-of-age story.
January 22, 2021
Chiara Grassia
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
The insightful and cracklingly funny story is an antidote to Hannah Montana and the shallow Hollywood teenagers on the Disney Channel, obsessed by their French manicures.
December 31, 2017
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
For all their moodiness and irascibility, the girls come across as warm and believable, and there are funny moments when they take to the streets to raise money for a new guitar.
January 4, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Evan Williams
The Australian
TOP CRITIC
A pallid and terminally cutesy movie that succeeds by stoking blandly happy feelings.
January 4, 2015
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
The young actresses are just flawless and I think Lukas Moodysson really tells this story well.
September 26, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/5
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
The performances of all three young actors are superb, soulful, honest and full of joy. Their dialogue is often ridiculously funny and there’s no sense of manufactured drama.
September 22, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Writer/director Lukas Moodysson adapts his wife’s graphic novel into a heartfelt look at three teenagers who have not yet come of age but are on their way.
November 8, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
The crowd with which I saw it last November was positively vibrating the whole time. The title does not lie.
March 4, 2021
Scott Nye
Battleship Pretension
It’s the details of the journey that matter in this good-natured film. Bobo, Klara, and Hedwig’s story of Sweden’s finest teenage girl punk band will feel universal to everyone who has ever set out to prove that punk won’t die on their watch.
January 8, 2020
Chris McCoy
Memphis Flyer
We Are the Best (Vi är bast) sports a cocksure swagger in its title alone, and rightfully so. It is a boisterous rejoinder to the usual simplistic, tame depiction of adolescent girls.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: A
Ryan Syrek
The Reader (Omaha, NE)
Moodysson’s film is hard to dislike, and while it puts more emphasis on the light in light-hearted, We Are The Best! is time well spent.
June 19, 2019 | Rating: 7.4/10
C.J. Prince
Way Too Indie
We Are the Best is a warm-hearted crowd and critics pleaser about coming of age, and female friendship that passes the Bechdel Test.
June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Alexa Dalby
Dog and Wolf…
Plot
In early-80s’ Stockholm, Bobo, an ordinary thirteen-year-old schoolgirl who lives with her divorced mother, takes inspiration from bands like KSMB and Ebba Grön, refusing to accept what others say about Punk being dead. Sharing the same taste in music with her classmate, Klara, and with the help of the talented but introverted eighth-grader, Hedvig, the girls decide to put a band together, getting their hands on musical instruments for the very first time. But, surprisingly, what started as a joke, will soon become a reality
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film We Are the Best! on Fresh Kernels.
Lukas-Moodysson.jpg
87%
The Great Beauty (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
60 wins & 77 nominations total
Dazzlingly ambitious, beautifully filmed, and thoroughly enthralling, The Great Beauty offers virtuoso filmmaking from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino
The Great Beauty is like a fancy Italian dinner – it’s rich, indulgent, and leaves you feeling satisfied. Sorrentino’s film is a feast for the eyes, with stunning visuals and a decadent atmosphere that transports you to the heart of Rome. It’s a bit like La Dolce Vita meets The Wolf of Wall Street, with a touch of Fellini-esque surrealism thrown in for good measure. If you’re looking for a film that’s both beautiful and thought-provoking, The Great Beauty is definitely worth a watch. Just make sure you’ve got some gelato on hand to complete the experience.
Production Company(ies)
Channel 4 News Channel 4 Frontline
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Fontana dell’Acqua Paola, Janiculum Hill, Rome, Lazio, Italy
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese
-
Country of origin:France, Italy
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Mar 25, 2014
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso, Iaia Forte, Pamela Villoresi, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, written by Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello, Comedy, Drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Marjorie Baumgarten, Jonathan Romney, Geoff Pevere, J R Jones, Peter Howell, Dustin Chang, Jordan M Smith, Yasser Medina, Robert Roten, Ryan Syrek, C.J Prince, Francesca Cima, Fabio Conversi, Nicola Giuliano, Jérôme Seydoux, MPAA rating, aging writer, passionate youth, Rome, midlife crisis, listless luxuriance, Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Baz Luhrmann, celebrity journalist, 65th birthday, sumptuousness, hyperbolically gaudy party, decadent wealth, beauty, melancholy, sadness, silence, thoughtfulness, super stylized, slick, camera moves, gyrating, young bodies
Worldwide gross: $24,665,023
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,825,044
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,539
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,361,510
US/Canada gross: $2,852,400
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,564,779
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,902
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,442
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $29,297
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,373
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 9200000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $11,497,674
Production budget ranking: 1,614
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $6,191,498
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $13,135,872
ROI to date (est.): 74%
ROI ranking: 1,042
Carlo Verdone – Romano
Sabrina Ferilli – Ramona
Carlo Buccirosso – Lello Cava
Iaia Forte – Trumeau
Pamela Villoresi – Viola
Director(s)
Paolo Sorrentino
Writer(s)
Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello
Producer(s)
Francesca Cima, Fabio Conversi, Nicola Giuliano, Jérôme Seydoux
Film Festivals
Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
60 wins & 77 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Winners, Oscar Best International Feature Film Of The Year Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (134) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (122) | Rotten (12)
Sorrentino’s heady, vivid yet wearily melancholic musing on midlife crisis submerges you in sumptuousness until you emerge, blinking, as if from some impossibly glamorous party.
September 5, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
Wild set-pieces and rueful observations are the stock in trade of this Italian film by one of the modern masters of cinema, Paolo Sorrentino.
February 13, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/5
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
I can’t remember when a film last gave me such a surge of pure pleasure — no, outright euphoria — as The Great Beauty.
February 6, 2014
Jonathan Romney
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The Great Beauty is an utterly ravishing portrait of listless luxuriance, a fantasy of decadent wealth and beauty that evokes Fellini’s La Dolce Vita by way of Baz Luhrmann.
January 31, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Geoff Pevere
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Celebrating Rome in all its decay, this florid comedy by Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, This Must Be the Place) opens with a hyperbolically gaudy party honoring a celebrity journalist on his 65th birthday.
January 30, 2014
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A riotous film that finds depth, clarity and refreshment in even the shallowest of pools.
January 30, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
If the film is a reflection of the Bellusconi bunga-bunga era and its hollowness, that’s fine too. It still retains that melancholy and sadness and silence and thoughtfulness against that super stylized, slick, camera moves and gyrating, young bodies.
February 22, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
The Great Beauty is a cinematic marvel that playfully asks what we find truly joyous in life and questions their validity with a sardonic over exuberance.
November 4, 2020
Jordan M. Smith
IONCINEMA.com
Watching the enriching aesthetic of this film and witnessing its exuberant visual style is something that is priceless. [Full review in Spanish]
June 25, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
This masterpiece of filmmaking, written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino seems at first to be a haphazard collage of images and sounds, but it somehow all fits together perfectly.
January 24, 2020 | Rating: A
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
All things considered, you’d be hard pressed to find a more stunning, thoughtful, honest and stirring film than The Great Beauty.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: A-
Ryan Syrek
The Reader (Omaha, NE)
Sorrentino has finally followed up that overlooked gem (This Must Be the Place) with The Great Beauty.
June 29, 2019
C.J. Prince
Way Too Indie…
Plot
An aging writer reflects on his past and the decadent beauty of Rome in The Great Beauty, a visually stunning film by Paolo Sorrentino.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Great Beauty stars Toni Servillo as Jep Gambardella, an aging writer reflecting on his youth.
Paolo-Sorrentino.jpg
87%
A Hijacking (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 76%
Awards & Nominations: 19 wins & 26 nominations
A tense, gripping thriller, A Hijacking avoids action movie cliches and instead creates a palpable sense of dread by mixing gritty realism with atmospheric beauty
A Hijacking” is a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails down to the quick. It’s a nail-biting, intense drama that will leave you feeling like you’ve just been through a real-life hostage situation. The characters are believable, the storyline is gripping, and the settings are so realistic that you’ll feel like you’re right there on the ship with them. It’s not a fun movie, but it’s definitely one that you won’t forget anytime soon. So, grab some popcorn, settle in, and get ready for a wild ride.
Production Company(ies)
Korea Pictures, L J Film Pandora Filmproduktion,
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
2012
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 39m
-
Language(s):Danish, English, Somali
-
Country of origin:Denmark
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 14, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2013
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Søren Malling, Dar Salim, Gary Skjoldmose Porter, Abdihakin Asgar, Amalie Alstrup, Amalie Vulff Andersen, directed by Tobias Lindholm, written by Tobias Lindholm, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Paul Byrnes, David Edelstein, Olivia Collette, Neil Young, Jonathan Robbins, R-rated, produced by Rene Ezra, Tomas Radoor, Danish, Somali pirates, cargo ship, crew hostage, negotiations, Copenhagen, gritty realism, atmospheric beauty, tension, thriller, hostage-taking, power politics, masculine melodrama, plot twists, psychological toll, desperation, safe release, shrewd businessman, quiet intensity, realistic performances, demanding, emotional exhaustion, heartbreaking, unpredictable, depressing
Worldwide gross: $2,688,444
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,466,008
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,279
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 377,972
US/Canada gross: $414,437
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $534,302
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,309
US/Canada opening weekend: $39,392
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $50,785
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,204
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): DKK 15,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Dar Salim – Lars Vestergaard
Gary Skjoldmose Porter – Connor Julian
Abdihakin Asgar – Omar
Amalie Alstrup – Maria Hartmann
Amalie Vulff Andersen – Kamilla Hartmann
Director(s)
Tobias Lindholm
Writer(s)
Tobias Lindholm
Producer(s)
Rene Ezra, Tomas Radoor
Film Festivals
Venice
Awards & Nominations
19 wins & 26 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (112) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (107) | Rotten (5)
This is authentic, nail-digging life and death drama that, like Borgen, is all about maturing character development and power politics.
September 5, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
A Hijacking achieves considerable power by avoiding the obvious, and staying close to its characters.
December 16, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
It’s an unshowy, quietly intense drama with grace notes in every scene — and a hellish punch.
December 16, 2013
David Edelstein
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
The film exposes the deep moral callousness of those doing the dealing, and the desperation of the people they break.
December 16, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/5
Olivia Collette
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
A high-seas hostage-taking and resulting negotiations are absorbingly dramatized in this low-key Venice standout from Denmark’s hottest new writer-director.
December 16, 2013
Neil Young
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
In his screenwriting, Tobias Lindholm has shown strong instincts for masculine melodrama and a knack for plot twists. As a director, though, he may still be getting his sea legs.
November 4, 2013
Jonathan Robbins
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A Hijacking is one of those movies that must be recommended even if it’s in a way that doesn’t suggest that watching it will be much fun at all.
August 27, 2019 | Rating: A-
Ryan Syrek
The Reader (Omaha, NE)
holds your attention like a loaded gun to the forehead.
July 22, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Chris Hunneysett
The Sunday People
The characters, settings and storyline are always immensely believable, providing a fascinating glimpse into the terrifying world of modern day piracy.
February 2, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Jo-Anne Titmarsh
CineVue
“A Hijacking” may be a relatively low-key film, but it slowly overwhelms you.
February 21, 2018
Steve Erickson
Gay City News
The atmospheres of both boardroom and ship are superbly captured. In that thrilling Nordic style, everything feels chillingly real and grips you like ice.
October 31, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Jason Solomons
The Mail on Sunday (UK)
It aims to not allow you to leave the theater without empathizing with victims of such real-life violence. And that’s what makes the film so memorable – and haunting.
April 8, 2014 | Rating: A
Dan Schindel
Movie Mezzanine…
Plot
After Somali pirates hijack a Danish cargo ship and take the crew hostage, authorities in Copenhagen begin negotiations with the pirates to free the crew in the tense and gripping thriller, A Hijacking.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Søren Malling and Dar Salim in lead roles.
Tobias-Lindholm.jpg
87%
Before Midnight (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
20 wins & 63 nominations total
Building on the first two installments in Richard Linklater’s well-crafted Before trilogy, Before Midnight offers intelligent, powerfully acted perspectives on love, marriage, and long-term commitment
Before Midnight is the perfect movie for anyone who loves a good love story, but also wants a dose of reality. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are back as Jesse and Celine, and this time they’re in Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, but the real beauty is in the way they talk to each other. They argue, they laugh, they cry, and they make up. It’s like watching a real couple, flaws and all. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you believe in love, but also make you grateful for your own imperfect relationship, this is it. Plus, it’s got some killer one-liners that will have you quoting it for days.
Production Company(ies)
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
The Westin Resort Costa Navarino, Messinia, Greece
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexual content/nudity and language
Year of Release
2013
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 49m
-
Language(s):English, Greek, French
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 24, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 22, 2013
Genre(s)
Romance/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $20,994,648
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $26,670,510
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,590
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,908,453
US/Canada gross: $8,114,627
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $10,308,400
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,606
US/Canada opening weekend: $246,914
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $313,667
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,525
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $3,811,044
Production budget ranking: 1,950
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,052,247
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $20,807,218
ROI to date (est.): 355%
ROI ranking: 391
Director(s)
Richard Linklater
Writer(s)
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Producer(s)
Richard Linklater, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Sara Woodhatch
Film Festivals
Sundance, South by Southwest
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
20 wins & 63 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (206) | Top Critics (62) | Fresh (201) | Rotten (5)
A refreshing counter-point to Hollywood’s typical happily ever after stories.
January 15, 2021
Oktay Ege Kozak
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
Unleashing a stream of feminist consciousness that is both outraged and outrageous-and cathartic because we are laughing with her, not at her-Céline emerges as a 21st-century hero and Delpy as the Carole Lombard of our time.
August 28, 2019
Amy Taubin
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
While the film has certainly satisfied many audiences and critics across the board, I was left very cold and bewildered, questioning what I even saw.
September 6, 2017
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
‘Before Midnight’ has all the best qualities of ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset’ (a love of conversational dialogue, long takes that value the joy of performance and interaction, gorgeous European locations), yet it is a grander and more complicated achievement.
June 21, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
Hawke and Delpy, who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater, make this oscillation between badinage and feistiness, cosiness and irritability, look effortless.
June 22, 2015
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
This is a universal X-ray of bourgeois love, one that in a few decades will get around to something like Amour.
January 6, 2014
Wesley Morris
Grantland
TOP CRITIC
Before Midnight’s journey is not only an intellectual one.
March 3, 2021
David Bax
Battleship Pretension
Done with humor, heart and pathos, often in the same scene, it is a poignant farewell to two characters who grew up in front of us.
January 31, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse
Linklater closes one of the best romantic trilogies in the history of modern cinema with Before Midnight. [Full review in Spanish]
June 25, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
In the brilliant third part of Richard Linklater’s two-decade spanning trilogy, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy stroll through a paradise-on-earth slice of Greece.
June 19, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
Having spent some of the most romantic scenes in all of cinema in their company (a stroll at dawn in Vienna, Delpy singing “A Waltz for a Night”), the thought of their divorce will hit you harder than any of your own breakups.
April 5, 2020
Asher Luberto
L.A. Weekly
Beautifully lensed by Christos Voudouris, the light, the location are celebratory and metaphoric with a timeless classic beauty serving as a testament to the battles of life and marriage and surviving with dignity and grace.
January 7, 2020
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens…
Plot
It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters, but have spent a summer in Greece on the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse’s. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Richard-Linklater.jpg
87%
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (2013)
87%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: NA
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay presents a fascinating — and tantalizingly incomplete — picture of a legendary magician and skilled raconteur
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay is a documentary that will leave you in awe of the card-trick genius. The film offers a colorful history of the evolution of magic and illusions, and Ricky Jay’s own personality and intellect steer the film. It’s like spending time with a magician who keeps things shadowy and hard to pin down, but in the best way possible. You’ll be entertained by the splendid feats and dazzling card magic, and you’ll learn a lot from Jay, but he’ll still keep his mystique. Overall, it’s a magical experience that’s time well spent.
Production Company(ies)
Element Pictures, Film 4 Film Nation Entertainment,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2012
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 2012 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2013
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, Ricky Jay, magician, card-trick, Molly Bernstein, Alan Edelstein, Dick Cavett, David Mamet, Winston Simone, Cathy Greenwold, Philip Dolin, executive producer, box office, gross USA, budget, reviewed by THR Staff, Drew Taylor, Tom Long, Walter V Addiego, Adam Nayman, Michael O’Sullivan, Chase Beck, Bernard Boo, Gerald Peary, Richard von Busack, Jeffrey M Anderson, Jean Lowerison, genre, MPAA rating, producer, director, writer, audience score, critic score, Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay, documentary film, magic, illusions, history, close-up magic, magician’s world, private life, tantalizingly incomplete, legendary magician, skilled raconteur, fascinating, mind-blowing tricks, colorful history, evolution of magic, 20th century, intimate, riveting, routines, shadowy, hard to pin down, inner life, glowering, cryptic figure, mystique
Worldwide gross: $152,791
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $196,982
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,936
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 21,481
US/Canada gross: $152,791
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $196,982
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,551
US/Canada opening weekend: $13,802
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $17,794
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,554
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $644,612
Production budget ranking: 2,105
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $347,124
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$794,754
ROI to date (est.): -80%
ROI ranking: 1,880
Dick Cavett – Narrator
David Mamet – self
Winston Simone – self
Molly Bernstein – Director
Cathy Greenwold – Executive Producer
Director(s)
Molly Bernstein
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Alan Edelstein, Philip Dolin
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (3)
Astonishment abounds in doc about card-trick genius.
November 3, 2020
THR Staff
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
We want to know as much as we can about this guy, but like any good magician, he keeps things shadowy and hard to pin down.
November 3, 2020 | Rating: A-
Drew Taylor
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
The film offers all manner of mind-blowing tricks, as well as a colorful history of the evolution of magic and illusions, especially through the 20th century.
July 25, 2013 | Rating: B
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Jay’s own personality and intellect steer the film, and he’s such a finely honed performer that he easily carries it off…What we get here, simply, is time spent with Ricky Jay, and that’s time well spent.
July 5, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein’s film works first and foremost as a showcase of Jay’s skills, but he’s also an ideal interview subject …
July 5, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4
Adam Nayman
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
A documentary portrait of the magician, author and actor who is known as one of today’s preeminent practitioners of close-up magic.
June 27, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay only delivers on half the promise that the title makes, there are plenty of mentors, but no real mysteries to speak of. I’m okay with that.
March 4, 2021
Chase Beck
Battleship Pretension
It would be entertaining enough to simply set Ricky Jay in front of a camera and let him talk, but Bernstein captures the essence of Jay’s persona in a way that’s as intimate and riveting as his routines.
April 12, 2019 | Rating: 8.2/10
Bernard Boo
Way Too Indie
The filmmaker is annoyingly passive and star-struck,as Ricky Jay, speaks only to his chosen agenda.
September 16, 2013 | Rating: 2
Gerald Peary
Arts Fuse
The splendid feats and dazzling card magic direct our attention away from the inner life of a large, glowering and cryptic figure. You learn a lot from Jay, and yet he keeps his mystique.
July 18, 2013 | Rating: 4/5 stars
Richard von Busack
MetroActive
I happen to love magic tricks. Deceptive Practice gave me a healthy dose of them, plus a good bit of history as well, and I appreciated it.
June 28, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Magic and Magical
June 9, 2013 | Rating: 5/5
Jean Lowerison
ReviewExpress.com…
Plot
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay is a documentary that explores the private world of professional magician Ricky Jay, showcasing his skills and providing a history of the evolution of magic and illusions.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features magician and skilled raconteur Ricky Jay.
Molly-Bernstein.jpg
87%
War Witch (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 14 nominations total
War Witch is a mature, intense drama that embraces the bruatlity of its subject and invites the audience to sympathize with its protagonist’s nightmarish circumstances
War Witch is a movie that will make you feel like you’ve been through a war yourself. It’s a powerful and emotional experience that will leave you breathless. The director and scriptwriter, Kim Nguyen, did an amazing job of blending reality and mysticism. The story follows a young girl named Komona who is forced to become a child soldier in a living hell. The movie doesn’t sermonize or propose a solution to its larger problems, but instead, it’s a portrait of a life. The actress who played Komona, Rachel Mwanza, did an incredible job of showing us what it’s like to be a child soldier. It’s a harrowing film that refuses to let up long enough to let you catch your breath. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel something, then War Witch is the movie for you.
Production Company(ies)
Rossen Films,
Distributor
Tribeca Film
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of Congo
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2012
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 29m
-
Language(s):French, Lingala
-
Country of origin:Canada
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 1, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 8, 2013
Genre(s)
Drama/War
Keyword(s)
War Witch, drama, war, 1h 29m, directed by Kim Nguyen, written by Kim Nguyen, produced by Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, starring Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga, Jean Kabuya, box office gross $37.9K, Tribeca Film, MPAA rating, critics consensus, critic reviews, audience score, child soldiers, African rebels, village girl, supernatural powers, brutality, intense drama, mature, sympathize, protagonist, nightmarish circumstances, ghosts, superstitions, otherworldly powers, realities, subject, mysticism, atrocity, beauty, continent’s tragedy, young girl’s face, harshness, everyday tone, frightening, child soldier, hope, Lars von Trier-hellscape, romantic subplot, albino magician, white rooster, sad fairytale, dark phenomenon, extranormal ability, rebel leader, unpredictable, ethereal, effective, guilt, pain, magic realism, horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV shows, streaming movies, most popular, trending
Worldwide gross: $313,387
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $404,026
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,793
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 44,060
US/Canada gross: $70,544
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,947
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,673
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,714
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,234
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,677
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,512,285
Production budget ranking: 1,927
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,429,866
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$6,538,125
ROI to date (est.): -94%
ROI ranking: 1,987
Alain Bastien – Commandant
Serge Kanyinda – Magician
Ralph Prosper – Boucher
Mizinga Mwinga – Great Tiger
Jean Kabuya – School Camp Coach
Director(s)
Kim Nguyen
Writer(s)
Kim Nguyen
Producer(s)
Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Film Festivals
Berlin, Tribeca, Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 14 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (4)
Nguyen’s direction and script rarely falter. It’s a near-perfect blend of harsh reality and mysticism.
March 7, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Dwight Brown
National Newspaper Publishers Association
TOP CRITIC
It may be hard for a viewer to accept some of the paranormal goings-on in War Witch — the ghosts, the superstitions, the otherworldly powers — but they’re nothing compared to the realities that Komona has to endure.
December 17, 2013
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Atrocity and beauty somehow co-exist in War Witch.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Being a child soldier is tough to imagine, but Canadian writer-director Kim Nguyen takes on the challenge without many qualms.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 2/5
Jake Wilson
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
War Witch gives us a continent’s tragedy in a young girl’s face.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Nguyen brings the harshness of this world alive not with big dramatic flourishes but with an everyday tone that makes it all the more frightening. This is how it is – how else would it be?
June 13, 2013 | Rating: B+
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
That the teenage Rachel Mwanza can show us, and make us feel viscerally, a bit of what such a child goes through is a miracle in itself.
December 12, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Examiner
It’s a parlour trick, creating the illusion of activism while passively watching. Dark arts, indeed.
October 3, 2017
Kiva Reardon
Cinema Scope
A powerful and unforgettable emotional viewing experience.
July 15, 2014 | Rating: B+
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
War Witch doesn’t sermonize or propose a solution to its larger problems. It’s a portrait of a life. It just so happens that said life is playing out in a living hell.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: B
AP Kryza
Willamette Week
This harrowing film refuses to let up long enough to let you catch your breath.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
Jesse Kinos-Goodin
National Post
With intelligence and deceptive simplicity, Nguyen injects the discombobulating impact of grief, conflict and PTSD (with the added effects of magic milk), to delve deeper than a simple observed account of a soldier’s bid for freedom.
December 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Fiona Williams
sbs.com.au…
Plot
A young girl in Africa is forced to become a child soldier and kill her own parents, but a miraculous event leads the rebels to believe she has supernatural powers in War Witch.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Rachel Mwanza as the protagonist, Komona.
Kim-Nguyen.jpg
87%
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
87%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
85 wins & 174 nominations total
Gripping, suspenseful, and brilliantly crafted, Zero Dark Thirty dramatizes the hunt for Osama bin Laden with intelligence and an eye for detail
Zero Dark Thirty is the kind of movie that makes you want to stand up and salute the screen. It’s a thrilling ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Jessica Chastain’s performance is nothing short of amazing, and the way the film portrays the CIA is surprisingly patriotic. Sure, it’s not your typical Hollywood entertainment, but who needs that when you have a movie this good? Just make sure you don’t watch it as historical record, or you might leave feeling a little disappointed.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros.,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Manimajra Fort, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language
Year of Release
2013
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Atmos
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 37m
-
Language(s):English, Arabic, Urdu, Pashtu, French
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 11, 2013 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 19, 2013
Genre(s)
Drama/War
Keyword(s)
Zero Dark Thirty, drama, war, 2h 37m, starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by Mark Boal, produced by Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison, box office gross $95.7M, reviewed by Sara Michelle Fetters, Scott Marks, Candice Frederick, Anna Smith, Jason Bailey, John Anderson, Mirito Torreiro, Ema Sasic, Liz Braun, Mark Jackson, David Walsh, MPAA rating R, Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, terrorist attacks, Sept 11, 2001, manhunt, Navy SEALs, Abbottabad, Pakistan, CIA, torture, intelligence, suspenseful, gripping, brilliantly crafted, procedural, hunt for Osama bin Laden, worldwide manhunt, U.S presidential administrations, dedicated female operative, finally locating bin Laden, nighttime strike, killing bin Laden, resources, attention, Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Worldwide gross: $132,820,716
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $168,728,535
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 788
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,400,058
US/Canada gross: $95,720,716
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $121,598,623
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 624
US/Canada opening weekend: $417,150
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $529,926
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,392
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $40,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $50,813,921
Production budget ranking: 783
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $27,363,297
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $90,551,317
ROI to date (est.): 116%
ROI ranking: 877
Jason Clarke – Dan
Joel Edgerton – Patrick
Jennifer Ehle – Jessica
Mark Strong – George
Kyle Chandler – Joseph Bradley
Director(s)
Kathryn Bigelow
Writer(s)
Mark Boal
Producer(s)
Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
85 wins & 174 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Sound Editing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (305) | Top Critics (74) | Fresh (278) | Rotten (27)
[Zero Dark Thirty] is one of the great cinematic procedurals ever made.
April 26, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
When it comes to establishing and maintaining tension, there wasn’t a better American genre picture released this year. Refrain from viewing it as historical record and you won’t leave disappointed.
October 28, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Scott Marks
San Diego Reader
TOP CRITIC
… it is Chastain’s performance, as restrained as it is powerful, that may just be the cherry atop this massive and meticulous film.
September 7, 2017 | Rating: A-
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
This doesn’t zip along in the manner of typical Hollywood entertainment but it’s memorable cinema with a finale that will stay with you long after viewing.
September 1, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Anna Smith
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
A great American film: complicated, nuanced, searching, piercing, difficult – and yet thrilling and satisfying all the same.
June 21, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
Zero Dark Thirty is a magnificent movie, if we ignore the moral ambiguities. But can we?
April 6, 2016
John Anderson
America Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Exhaustive, implacable, rigorous, stripped of any tear-jerking [scenes]. Allowing the audience to judge the scale of values put forth. [Full review in Spanish]
June 28, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Mirito Torreiro
Fotogramas
Bigelow’s film lets viewers decide on their own if the pain, suffering, and carnage were justifiable for the chance to say mission accomplished in 2011.
June 21, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Ema Sasic
Next Best Picture
Kathryn Bigelow’s tense thriller is worth seeing again just to be reminded how brilliant Chastain is in this role of single-minded operative.
October 5, 2021
Liz Braun
AWFJ Women on Film
What stands out most (in addition to Jessica Chastain’s brilliant performance) is the portrait of the normally mildly maligned (also often portrayed as supremely sneaky and up to no good) CIA-as a bastion of patriotism.
June 12, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Mark Jackson
Epoch Times
With its course of realism over romanticism, “Zero Dark Thirty” offers no slice-of-life, next-door-neighbor stories of Americana.
April 12, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Don Shanahan
Every Movie Has a Lesson
As was the case with The Hurt Locker (2008), where the central figures were US soldiers in Iraq, Bigelow concentrates in her latest work on how exhausting and difficult it is to be a victimizer.
February 12, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site…
Plot
Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Kathryn-Bigelow.jpg
87%
The Sessions (2012)
87%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
18 wins & 64 nominations total
Tender, funny, and touching, The Sessions provides an acting showcase for its talented stars and proves it’s possible for Hollywood to produce a grown-up movie about sex
The Sessions” is a movie that explores the unconventional relationship between a man and his sex surrogate. While some critics found the story to be contrived and lacking in depth, others praised the performances of Helen Hunt and John Hawkes. One critic even called it a “love story between a man and life itself.” Personally, I thought the movie was sweet and funny, with just the right amount of seriousness. It’s definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re in the mood for something a little different. Plus, who doesn’t love a good Helen Hunt performance?
Production Company(ies)
Communicado Productions, New Zealand Film Commission Avalon, NFU
Distributor
Fox Searchlight
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
San Francisco, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexuality including graphic nudity and frank dialogue
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 35m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 2012 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 12, 2013
Genre(s)
Biography
Keyword(s)
starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Adam Arkin, directed by Ben Lewin, written by Ben Lewin, biography, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Candice Frederick, Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Charlotte Ross, Nigel Andrews, Peter Bradshaw, Tim Robey, Richard Propes, Debbie Lynn Elias, Katie Smith-Wong, Mattie Lucas, Brian D Johnson, Chris Hunneysett, produced by Judi Levine, Stephen Nemeth, MPAA rating R, graphic nudity, frank dialogue, strong sexuality, sex and disability, sex surrogate, polio, journalist, poet, caregiver, virginity, Fox Searchlight, Dolby Digital
Worldwide gross: $10,656,155
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $13,738,175
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,857
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,498,165
US/Canada gross: $6,002,451
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,738,506
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,687
US/Canada opening weekend: $113,467
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $146,284
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,791
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $1,289,224
Production budget ranking: 2,070
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $694,247
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $11,754,704
ROI to date (est.): 593%
ROI ranking: 217
Helen Hunt – Cheryl
William H. Macy – Father Brendan
Moon Bloodgood – Vera
Annika Marks – Amanda
Adam Arkin – Josh
Director(s)
Ben Lewin
Writer(s)
Ben Lewin
Producer(s)
Judi Levine, Stephen Nemeth
Film Festivals
Sundance, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
18 wins & 64 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (203) | Top Critics (65) | Fresh (185) | Rotten (18)
The story isn’t as provocative as it tries to be, and the contrived romance is just as frustrating to watch unfold.
September 7, 2017 | Rating: C-
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
The Sessions could easily have slipped into schmaltz, but it’s an unexpectedly funny delight, thanks in part to sterling work from Helen Hunt and John Hawkes.
September 1, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
Satisfaction guaranteed? Pretty much.
January 18, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Charlotte Ross
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Hunt is a prodigy. No other actress could have brought such easeful transparency, such a glow of givingness, such heedlessness of glamour each time she strips naked.
January 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
The Sessions can be sugary, but it’s likable.
January 17, 2013 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
You could maybe see it working as a play, though the tactile detail of these scenes needs close-ups on the actors’ faces to communicate what the transaction means to them both.
January 17, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It is very seldom that I find virtually everything that I want within the confines of a single film.
September 22, 2020 | Rating: 4.0/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
A love story between a man and life itself. A story that should humble, challenge and inspire us all.
November 27, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
Sweet, witty and on the right edge of serious, The Sessions looks like an early 2013 audience favourite.
November 26, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5
Katie Smith-Wong
Flick Feast
A muddled, scattershot film of hollow platitudes anchored by two exceptional performances.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: 2/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
This is a small film with a crack cast that elevates it beyond the banality of a movie-of-the week. It’s a possible dark horse candidate for Oscar recognition…
July 31, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
a powerful and touching film that never cheapens itself with false optimism or is careless with people emotions
July 22, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Chris Hunneysett
The Sunday People…
Plot
At the age of 38, Mark O’Brien, a man who uses an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and his priest, he contacts Cheryl Cohen-Greene, a professional sex surrogate and a typical soccer mom with a house, a mortgage and a husband. Inspired by a true story, The Sessions, follows the fascinating relationship which evolves between Cheryl and Mark as she takes him on his journey to manhood.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Helen Hunt’s performance in The Sessions includes several scenes of graphic nudity.
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