Articles written by the author
'Storm Boy' Review: Raising Pelicans in a Film That Never Fully Takes Flight
In a new adaptation of the early 1960s Australian children’s book “Storm Boy,” the story of a child who raises pelicans is updated to mixed effect.'Wonder Park' Review: An Animated Amusement Park Adventure Stalls Visually
In the amiable animated feature “Wonder Park,” a child’s imagination can power an amusement park. Unfortunately, the movie falls shy of providing the same sensory thrill ride. June (voiced by Brianna Denski) is an 8-year-old who displays an unusual aptitude for engineering. She has developed her talent through conversations with her mother (voiced by Jennifer Garner), who talks June through her plans for a park called Wonderland, where animals run the rides and carousels are mounted with fish...'Clara's Ghost': A Family of Performers, a Night of Hysteria
(Critic's Pick)'An Acceptable Loss' Review: Conspiracy Drives a Nuclear Attack in a Rote Thriller
“An Acceptable Loss” is an American political thriller that indicates in every frame its intention to take the subject of war seriously. Director Joe Chappelle has heavily filtered the movie’s images — draining the color from his characters’ faces, polishing their features into dull smoothness, dimming even the daylight. And unfortunately, the plot is as lackluster ideologically as the picture is visually.'State Like Sleep' Review: A Suspicious Suicide Drives This Suffocating Thriller
Far from a fantasy, but not quite a nightmare, “State Like Sleep” is a thriller without thrills, where every setting that was once familiar has become loaded with a sense of dread. It pauses before turning any corner, anticipating horrors that never satisfyingly arrive.'Penguins' review: A nature documentary veers into fairy tale
In “Penguins,” the beautiful but frustratingly shallow Disneynature documentary, Ed Helms provides the internal monologue for a 5-year-old Adélie penguin referred to as Steve, who is about to embark on his first mating season. Helms explains that if Steve hopes to thrive in the Antarctic spring and summer, he must find a mate, procreate and provide food to keep his new family alive.
