Rest assured: this is the only Oscar predictions post you’ll see on Critic Speak all year. While the rest of the Internet film community becomes obsessed with statuettes come November, writing almost exclusively about precursors and frontrunners and “Oscar buzz” for the next four months, we pride ourselves on keeping the focus on real criticism. …
Despite a lackluster crop of summer blockbusters—“The Dark Knight Rises,” in particular, was a colossal disappointment—2012 turned out to be a very good year at the movies. Two weeks ago, with several key films left to see, I began actively wishing that I would be disappointed by my remaining viewings because I didn’t want to …
The killing of Usama bin Laden is widely regarded as the United States’ biggest foreign policy triumph since the Cold War, so when the inevitable film about how the C.I.A. accomplished the heroic task was announced, it was reasonable to dread that the result would be blindingly patriotic and full of phony climaxes. I pictured …
Hello and welcome back to Box Office Beat, the column in which I predict the upcoming weekend’s box office results. After coming within $100,000 of the estimate on “Texas Chainsaw 3D” last weekend, which surprised many by breaking $20m, I’m nearly feeling the impulse to quit while I’m ahead and not even bother with this …
