Thursday, October 25,2012
Just one of ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’
By Ryan Syrek
Reconciling the public’s fascination with Emma Watson’s blossoming sexuality with realizing that the first time she was on screen she was 11 years old is really difficult.
Thursday, October 25,2012
‘Seven Psychopaths’ is worth the risk
By Ryan Syrek
Guess what? You’re so not ready for Seven Psychopaths.
Thursday, October 18,2012
‘Argo’ proves Ben is the real deal
By Ryan Syrek
It’s easy to thrill people when they don’t know what’s coming. OK, maybe not easy — paging Mr. Shyamalan — but certainly less difficult than whipping up tension in a film based on a decades-old actual incident, the resolution of which is but a Google search away.
Thursday, October 18,2012
‘Sleepwalk with Me’ gets real, funny
By Ryan Syrek
A note for the admittedly small subset of folks who swoon at the storytelling magic of This American Life and tingle at the mere mention of Ira Glass’s name: Sleepwalk with Me is charming public radio entertainment channeled into cinemas.
Thursday, October 11,2012
‘Butter’ is almost funny
By Ryan Syrek
In the wake a presidential debate that was almost fact-free on one side and nearly lifeless on the other, smearing Butter on one´s eyes seemed like a good option for poll junkies.
Thursday, October 4,2012
'Looper' is a semi-clever time travel tale
By Ryan Syrek
Right when the film needs to kick into a higher gear, opening the futuristic world up for a sizable climax, it downshifts into a muted, quasi-philosophical think-piece set mostly on a Kansas farmstead.
Thursday, October 4,2012
Resistance to ‘Pitch Perfect’ is futile
By Ryan Syrek
At the point where the fist pump from The Breakfast Club becomes a plot point, shortly after a near-mute Asian girl who ate her own twin in the womb makes snow angels in another girl’s vomit, Pitch Perfect moves from “potential cult classic” to “recommended for any human who likes funny.”
Thursday, September 27,2012
‘The Master’ says not even religion can change you
By Ryan Syrek
With a heavy heart comes the news that The Master isn’t outright the best film of the year; it’s only one of the best films of the year. Step up your game, PTA.
Thursday, September 27,2012
By Ryan Syrek
When you remake a movie that originally starred Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider, it’s not a challenge to clear the bar that was set.
Thursday, September 20,2012
‘2 Days in New York’ is artsy fun
By Ryan Syrek
There’s no good reason why '2 Days in New York' even exists, let alone anything that would explain how it came to be pretty fantastic.