If you’re someone who feels overwhelmed by all of the forced Christmas glee, this film might be your perfect pick-me-up. In “Rare Exports,” A young boy named Pietari living in a remote Finnish mountain village uncovers the truth about Santa Claus in a frightful, yet darkly humorous manner. Santa emerges as a malevolent and creepy [...]

This film makes Phantom of the Opera look like Sesame Street. It’s as intense and passionate as filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s last film, “The Wrestler.” On the other hand, “Black Swan” also possesses the wild melodrama and tension of Aronofsky’s earlier films such as Pi and Requiem for a Dream. With its amazing visuals and sounds, [...]

While we can’t expect every crime to have a clear, defined motive behind it, films must certainly have a motive. This film, despite several actors’ fantastic performances, emerges purposeless. By taking on the difficult task of transforming a convoluted, scattered real-life story into a riveting thriller, the filmmakers were clearly willing to risk it on [...]

Director Paul Haggis takes a break from preaching about race and the Iraq War to bring audiences a prison escape thriller with a strong performance by Russell Crowe. Crowe’s wife, played by Elizabeth Banks, is sentenced to prison for a gruesome murder she apparently did not commit. Relentless devotion transforms Crowe from a subdued, gentle [...]

Hellraiser! Messiah of Evil! Carrie! So many spooky movies at Lincoln Center! If you want to celebrate Halloween in the city but don’t want to be dress up, the art houses are giving you plenty to work with. If you’re not into seeing Psycho at Film Forum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is running [...]

I am to provide the public with beneficial shocks. Civilization has become so protective that we’re no longer able to get our goose bumps instinctively. The only way to remove the numbness and revive our moral equilibrium is to use artificial means to bring about the shock. The best way to achieve that, it seems [...]

This dramatic thriller follows a husband and wife as they desperately search for a lung transplant for their daughter, who is suffering from a rare degenerative condition. Their hunt leads them to the criminal underworld of organ trafficking in the underbelly of Mexico. The film asks the question: “When you are forced to choose between [...]

“Cloverfield” director Matt Reeves hasn’t ruined the elegant Swedish vampire story by remaking it. If anything, he’s made some improvements, including the addition of a tense action-horror sequence in the middle of the film. (Variety) Remember the critically acclaimed Swedish vampire movie from 2008, “Let the Right One In.” The American remake comes out today, and is [...]