Articles written by Zachary Herrmann

Predating and surpassing so many cinematic take-downs aimed at the Mayberry image of the suburbs, Bigger Than Life is one of the most-overlooked of great American films.

Mar 20, 2010 - Zachary Herrmann

As with the best of the director's output, Ophuls's Lola Montes isn't directed so much as orchestrated.

Feb 15, 2010 - Zachary Herrmann

Oh, the perils and pleasures of youth. Thankfully, this adaptation never shies away from high school sex, drugs and...Serge Gainsbourg?

Jan 6, 2010 - Zachary Herrmann

As a fitting companion to the Dardennes' previous film, L'Enfant, Lorna's Silence is equally probing in its depiction of desensitized urban dwellers.

Dec 29, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

With Tom Ford's noted background in fashion as a designer and as Gucci's creative director, it'd be easy to dismiss his foray into film as a case of style-over-substance.

Dec 24, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

No matter how much love Orson Welles's follow up to Citizen Kane gets, The Magnificent Ambersons will never live down the potential of what could have been.

Dec 15, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Despite all the moral and inspirational mumbo jumbo crammed into to Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela flick, there are only two real lessons to be taken away from Invictus.

Dec 10, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

The spirit of Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre is alive and kicking in this fictional, coming-of-age story set around the opening of Julius Caesar.

Dec 8, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

It would be unfair to compare Brothers to its far superior source material, the 2002 film of the same name, if the remake didn't hedge so close to the original.

Dec 3, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Like the film's crazed protagonist, New Orleans policeman Terrence McDonagh, Bad Lieutenant is a fascinating case of conflicted allegiances.

Nov 24, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

The year of George Clooney continues with Anderson's wonderfully anachronistic approach to stop-motion animation, and what could be the Texas auteur's most mature film.

Nov 19, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

As if the bastardization of the story elements weren't bad enough, Zemeckis undermines the drama in A Christmas Carol with his preferred medium: motion capture animation.

Nov 5, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

It's a wonder Wings of Desire avoids feeling sentimental or hokey -- after all, the film is a grand statement on life and death, told from the perspective of angels.

Nov 1, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Is it surprising Criterion has gone above and beyond in fleshing out the behind-the-scenes look at Wings of Desire? No. Is it still very much welcomed? Certainly.

Nov 1, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Short of Antichrist, few movies released in theaters this year exhibit more pain and suffering than the Sundance standout Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Saphire.

Oct 29, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

There are many small pleasures to be had throughout the formidable An Education, none greater than the performance of the young talent Carey Mulligan.

Oct 22, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

1974 kicks Red Riding off with sorrow and indignation. Unfortunately, as the mystery unravels into the 1980s, the narrative power dissipates.

Oct 19, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Though the production value for all three Red Riding films are through the roof considering they were conceived for TV, the films are best viewed as a mini-series.

Oct 19, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Sprawling, disappointing and immensely disturbing -- that's how the first full day of the PFF went, from Red Cliff to The Private Lives of Pippa Lee to Antichrist.

Oct 16, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Going boldly where so many bad children's book-adaptations have gone before, Where The Wild Things Are stays true to the source material, expanding on it wonderfully.

Oct 15, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Five years removed from Edgar Wright's instant zombie comedy classic, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland comes as an adrenaline-fueled disciple.

Oct 1, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Whip It! -- Drew Barrymore's debut film as a director -- plays by all the rules, but charm and good casting go a long way in this case.

Oct 1, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Since 1995, the year of Pixar's first feature length release, the animation studio has grown in leaps and bounds.

Sep 26, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns find the humor and insanity in the strange-but-true tale of Mark Whitacre.

Sep 17, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Man creates machine, machine outsmarts and destroys man ... twill puppets fight to save what's left of the world?

Sep 8, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

And the award for gutsiest film of 2009 goes to - yes, that's right, Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad.

Sep 3, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Who would've thought the guy behind Beavis and Butt-Head would turn out to be such a moralist?

Sep 3, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

If anyone's got an answer to the assembly line, feel-good sports flick, it's Robert D. Siegel. The name may not immediately ring a bell.

Aug 27, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Inglourious Basterds may be one of the more interesting cinematic failures to come around this decade, and not only because it comes from the mind of Quentin Tarantino.

Aug 20, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

In summing up Cold Souls, it'd be far too easy to cheekily refer to the film as Being Paul Giamatti or Eternal Sunshine of the Soulless Mind (sorry, couldn't resist).

Aug 20, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

There's been a lot of talk, of late, between the supposed disconnect between film critics and the general, movie-going public.

Aug 16, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

It's been a long time since there's been a hard, R-rated piece of sci-fi genre work as good as District 9.

Aug 13, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Don't look now, but Team Apatow has grown up. Those lovable man-boy schlubs aren't just cracking wise about masturbation and defecation anymore.

Jul 30, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

There's not really a comfortable moment in Roman Polanksi's appropriately-titled second feature film, Repulsion.

Jul 25, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

(500) Days of Summer -- a bright, little anti-love love story -- declare its central relationship as "modern", but don't be fooled. This is a post-modernist tale.

Jul 23, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

With American ignorance and intolerance once again in his sight lines, Cohen returns with Bruno, the haphazard follow up to the praised and crazed Borat.

Jul 9, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

It's sort of sad to refer to Moon as a throwback, but Duncan Jones's feature debut is just that.

Jul 2, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

Three short films pay homage to the fascinating Japanese city.

Jun 27, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann

So few films manage to, as Orson Welles once put it, show audiences what they never thought was possible. But with Waltz With Bashir, Ari Folman does just that.

Jun 21, 2009 - Zachary Herrmann