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This is Where I Leave You

by George Sax
Remember TV’s Arrested Development and Jason Bateman’s poor schlub trying to navigate his way through the plots and plotzing of his toxically narcissistic and criminally unreliable Jewish family? Well, that’s what he is again in Shawn Levy’s This Is Where I Leave You (and I have no good idea what the title means). This time the dysfunctional Jewish family (the ethnicity is important) is the Altmans of suburban New York.

The Disappearance of Elanor Rigby: Them

by George Sax
The subtitle of Ned Benson’s The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby refers to its origin as a combination of two previous films, Him and Her. Those deconstructed a marriage on the rocks, each from the viewpoint of a different spouse. Benson has knit scenes from these films into Them so competently that there’s no obvious evidence that it’s not an original, discrete work. It’s an impressively skillful job of editing and recycling.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

by M. Faust
As a longtime fan of Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder books, I’m probably the worst person in the world to offer a useful critique on this adaptation, based on a book that appeared about halfway into the series.

Tusk

by M. Faust
Let me get right to the point: Kevin Smith’s Tusk is the worst movie I have ever seen. At least the worst one made by an experienced filmmaker using a paid professional crew and actors. But really, it’s even worse than a lot of those grade-Z dogs that you don’t expect anything from.

My Old Lady

by M. Faust
Life has not been kind to Mathias Gold (Kevin Kline). He’s pushing 60, and all he has to show for his years are three unpublished novels, one for each ex-wife. His relationship with his father was never good, so he’s surprised to learn after the old guy dies that he left Mathias an apartment he owned in Paris, where he often went on business.



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