MarianneReviewsMovies

MASS is an exercise in masterfully-written dialogue carrying a high concept otherwise less suited for a feature-length film, and it deserves the accolades it's gotten in spite of requiring some tenacity to sit through.

THE GOOD: It's the dialogue, really, the steals the show on this one. Few writers could sit four actors down at a table for ninety percent of the film and hold an audience's attention, but Fran Kranz pulls it off.

THE BAD: Its brilliance is embedded in its achilles heel, and that's the lack of motion. Outside of a brief setup and minor late act, there's just nothing kinetic to keep things moving.

THE UGLY: I can't justify calling anything ugly about this wonderfully conceived and executed film.

CONCLUSION: It's a long haul at a languid pace, but the writing and tone make it worth ninety minutes of your time.

BELFAST is a moving period piece set during a child's idyllic youth interrupted with the street violence of hooligan factions during civil unrest in 1960s Northern Ireland, but despite wonderful performances by its cast, the film fails to capitalize on its own premises.

THE GOOD: Performances are stellar. Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench are standouts, and young Jude Hill is thoroughly captivating as Buddy. A heartfelt, fully owned ensemble makes this whole affair watchable.

THE BAD: The film's premise is centered on sectarian violence between warring religious factions, but we never come close to a payoff there, only seeing a blocked off street and the occasional angry interlopers to remind us there's a fray at hand.

THE UGLY: The production decision to present in black-and-white with the out outward-in color insertions was as pretentious a choice as I've seen in quite some time.

CONCLUSION: If you've nothing else to do with your Saturday night, by all means give this a watch, but you may find yourself wishing you'd made plans instead.

ELVIS is a Baz Luhrman movie through-and-through, and that means dizzying production design, colorful human menageries, and lots of glam, but ultimately it's the characters themselves that fail to land.

THE GOOD: Luhrman's design is overwhelming, but that's the kind of glitz needed to showcase the rhinestone-studded Butler, whose nomination for Best Actor is well deserved.

THE BAD: Cinematographer Mandy Walker swung for the fences with this one when she should've bunted. The mania was too much to follow.

THE UGLY: Tom Hanks is a tremendous character actor but he missed with this one.

CONCLUSION: Worth seeing from the back of a stranger's seat on a long international flight, but ultimately forgettable.