At the Movies

• FOR RENT: 'Cloud Atlas'

  “CLOUD ATLAS” One critic’s worst film is another critic’s best, I suppose, as there were few films from 2012 as divisive as “Cloud Atlas,” a mind-bending karmic epic spanning six stories and and hundreds of years. Its sheer chutzpah, I…

• FOR RENT: 'Mama,' 'Jack Reacher' and more

  “MAMA” Jessica Chastain stars in this very enjoyable horror film from producer Guillermo del Toro and director Andy Muschietti, making quite a stylish feature debut with genuinely frightening moments, a spooky antagonist and a convincingly creepy atmosphere. Considering…

• FOR RENT: 'Silver Linings Playbook' and more

  “SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” is beautiful, unusual and more than a little daring, a comedy that examines mental illness and other topics we as a society tend to find uncomfortable, with good humor and an…

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 7

  'Paradise: Love' (**) and 'Paradise: Faith' (*) The first two films in Ulrich Seidl's 'Paradise' trilogy made me feel terrible, but they're designed to do that, and if we're evaluating films on reaching whatever goals they were made to reach, well, job well done here. I can handle a movie making me …

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 6

  'After Tiller' (****) If there's one thing the American political system hates, it's nuance. Strict dichotomies " for us or against us, good or evil " get votes, offer comfort to people and, at least in the case of the debate on abortion, clearly define one's stance in a topic that's difficult to…

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 5

  'The Cold Lands' (***) Tom Gilroy's 'The Cold Lands' follows an 11-year-old boy, Atticus (newcomer Silas Yelich), who heads into the forest to fend for himself after the unexpected death of his mother (Lili Taylor). Atticus and his mother live in a secluded cabin in the Catskills in upstate New…

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 4

  'Some Girl(s)' (** 1/2) Neil LaBute adapted his stage play for this film, which he did not direct (and I'm still waiting on the great LaBute comeback, though word is his newest directorial effort is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival this year). The result, 'Some Girl(s),' is LaBute light,…

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 3

  'We Always Lie to Strangers' (*** ½) A complex but always humane portrait of a town known, at least on the surface, for its lack of complexities, 'We Always Lie to Strangers' digs beneath the tourist façade of Branson, Mo., to show the working and personal lives of the show business personnel who …

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 2

  'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet' (** ½) I'll freely admit that I'm not sure I have the context necessary to evaluate Alain Resnais' latest film, 'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.' While based on what I have seen of Resnais' work, I'd never go into one of his films expecting a conventional narrative, it…

• NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: Day 1

  This is the first daily recap I’ll have from the Nashville Film Festival. I don’t have I can guarantee how regular they’ll be, but I’ll try to have them up daily. Keep checking this blog for updates and don’t forget to follow @CoreyTuskMovies on…