A Bigger Splash, The Family Fang, Dark Horse, Viva, Gayby Baby, Memoria

A Bigger Splash

The Family Fang

Dark Horse

Viva

Gayby Baby

Memoria

Five recommendations out of six in a strong week at the cinema:

Hail Caesar!, Rams

Hail, Caesar!

Rams (Hrútar)





Capsules as we flip the calendar to February:

Trainwreck



 



Watching Judd Apatow’s “Trainwreck,” I had the same feeling I had at Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids” five years ago (or Martin Brest’s “Beverly Hills Cop” 30 years ago): revelation.

Snowpiercer, The Internet's Own Boy

Snowpiercer

The Internet's Own Boy

At this moment in time, Korea is the pits of the earth when it comes to cinema.

Moonrise Kingdom

It’s tough to convey the torturous ordeal that is “Moonrise Kingdom,” the latest exercise in unfettered self-indulgence for the look-at-me party drunk Wes Anderson, who reaches a new nadir with each successive picture. The embarrassing storyline involves a precocious, nerdy young boy and the blank-faced, empty-headed older girl he instantly recognizes as his soulmate (it’s hard to tell who’s more annoying), but as always it’s just an excuse for Anderson to have a cast of name actors recite his interminable stream of vapid, cutesy-poo dialogue. Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bruce Willis – all just dolls for Anderson to move about his elaborate dollhouse; and it’s been at least a decade since Bill Murray brought anything of value to a movie. Anderson is obviously not without visual flair - you could see an Oscar for set decoration – which only makes his choice of material all the more discouraging. Meanwhile, I kept hearing guttural moans and snippets of commentary from the friend I took to “Moonrise Kingdom”: “I can’t…” “It’s a nightmare…” How much money, I asked, would it take to get him to go back and see it again. He gave the question thoughtful consideration. “It would be tough,” he said, “but I’d do it for $150.”

We Need to Talk About Kevin

There had been talk of an Oscar nomination for previous winner Tilda Swinton for her role as the mother of a child who grows up to be a school shooter in Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin," but neither Swinton's one-note performance nor Ramsay's structurally flawed film matches the power and complexity of Maria Bello's work in the similarly themed "Beautiful Boy."