Author: chrisreedfilm

Christopher Llewellyn Reed is a film critic, filmmaker, and educator. A member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, he is Managing Editor at Film Festival Today; lead film critic at Hammer to Nail; the host of the award-winning Reel Talk with Christopher Llewellyn Reed, from Dragon Digital Media; and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice. In addition, he is one of the cohosts of The Fog of Truth, a podcast devoted to documentary cinema.

Sex, Drugs and Female Empowerment in Wonderful “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”

The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Marielle Heller, 2015) Be forewarned, O faint of heart, that this movie features inappropriate sex between … More

In “Listen to Me Marlon,” Brando, As Always, Mesmerizes

Listen to Me Marlon (Stevan Riley, 2015) This is not the first documentary about the great American actor Marlon Brando (there have … More

“American Ultra” Offers Eisenberg’s Mad Skills, and Not Much Else

American Ultra (Nima Nourizadeh, 2015) He’s a stoner! But wait, he might be so much more. What’s that spoon doing stuck … More

The Docucinema of Bold Ink: “Best of Enemies,” “The End of the Tour” and “Straight Outta Compton”

[NOTE from 8/22/15: I just added a post-script, below, to my review of “Straight Outta Compton.”] My apologies, for this … More

The Ditzy, Dizzy “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Dazzles with (Empty) Style

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Guy Ritchie, 2015) The original “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” television series ran from 1964 to 1968 on NBC. … More

The Redundant Reboot: “Fantastic Four” Falls Flat

Fantastic Four (Josh Trank, 2015) Where to begin? Perhaps with the question, not unique to this particular movie, of why. In … More

“Shaun the Sheep Movie” Entertains, But Needs Its Woolly Bits Shorn

Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton/Richard Starzak, 2015) The English animation studio Aardman Animations – best known for its Wallace and Gromit short films, … More

Go, Tom, Go! In “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” Cruise and Company Run a Great Game

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015) Christopher McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning writer of Bryan Singer’s terrific 1995 The Usual Suspects – … More