Movie reviews of George Wolf

The Souvenir is finely crafted as a different kind of gain from pain, one that benefits both filmmaker and audience. It is artful and cinematic in its love for art and cinema, honest and forgiving in its acceptance, and beautifully appreciative for how life shapes us. Review

But in the world of Rocketman, anything is possible. And even with all the eccentric flights of fancy, the film holds true to an ultimately touching honesty about the life story it’s telling. Review

There’s little doubt this film could be enjoyed even without benefit of subtitles, while the intricate writing and emotional performances combine for an experience that entertains and enthralls. Review

The film still offers some perfectly fine moments of overly manufactured family entertainment that will make many parents nostalgic for the original. But after the live-action heights hit by The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, this Aladdin is a carpet ride missing much of its magic. Review

Credit The Sun Is Also a Star for trying to stray outside the usual lines, even as it hits those same formulaic goalposts. Review

Crushing in its familiarity, gut wrenching in its specifics, Trial by Fire is a tough but worthy reminder of the illusion of fairness. Review

Hathaway is a worthy Oscar winner, and though Wilson’s pony could really use more tricks, she can be funny. What either one of them saw in this inane script is beyond me and beneath both of them. Review

Tolkien turns an ambitious quest into a rather pedestrian journey. Review

The Intruder is a little creepy, too often unintentionally funny and in need of some work. Review

Long Shot has the heart, charm and hilarity to win you over long before then. Review

In the latest of many challenging indie roles he’s been choosing post-Twilight, Pattinson is again impressive. In a succession of unlikable characters, he gives Monte a gradually sympathetic layer, an element that becomes critical to making the film’s third act as effective, and ultimately hopeful, as it is. Review

It truly is an incredible survival story, and by grounding it in the spirit of a distraught mother, Breakthrough finds some solid ground. Review

Directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson hit all the right benchmarks in their 76 minutes: a penguin adventure that will delight the kids told through often breathtaking footage plus, for the adults, nostalgic odes to parenting and classic hits. Review

It’s a thrilling, absolute can’t-miss testament to soul personified. Review

Director Jenny Gage, whose All This Panic mined genuine young adult emotion, is powerless to shape this material into anything more than plug-and-play emptiness. Review

The result is a film that’s confident but unassuming, fun without being silly, and satisfying from nearly every angle. Review

There really isn’t much Shazam! doesn’t deliver (okay, maybe it delivers a slightly bloated running time that includes two post-credits stingers), and as fast as you can say the magic word, DC has the best film in its universe since Bale was the Bat. Review

The Best of Enemies tells a good story and does plenty right while doing it, but is held back by missed opportunities. Review

The film has a respect for books and libraries that is indeed admirable, but by the time Goodson starts reading from Steinbeck on live TV, it becomes painfully evident what The Public wants to be when it grows up. Review

The Beach Bum is a mildly funny one trick pony, a rambling barfly always cracking up at his own jokes. Review

Zahler’s command of his playbook is hard to ignore. Though the glory of Concrete‘s payoff never quite rises to the breathtaking heights he’s hit before, his confident pace and detailed observations make for completely absorbing storytelling. Review

So much YA drama is anchored by this cheap enlightenment, and there is plenty here to wallow in. Review

It is 97 minutes of can’t-look-away intensity, a bold experience that may leave you asking “what just happened?” while you look for a nice place to lie down. But oh, those dreams you’ll be having. Review

Like a pop-up book full of highbrow surprises, Ruben Brandt, Collector is never less than delightful. Review