Ian Buckwalter

Ian Buckwalter Washington City Paper Aug 6, 2015 Furjanic shows a keen sense of how to structure Louganis' failures alongside his dramatic victories for maximum impact, as well as making poignant personal-is-political statements about evolving views of homosexuality. Go to Full Review Back on Board: Greg Louganis (2014) 89% 88%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Aug 7, 2014 The film manages a neat trick of sticking close to formula while still being unexpectedly fresh. Go to Full Review What If (2013) 73% 69%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jul 25, 2014 7/10 Part surfing film, part travelogue, occasionally even anthropological study and wildlife film, ultimately it visually taps into the wanderlust that sends us to far-flung beaches in search of an escape from life that we can't find at home. Go to Full Review The Endless Summer (1966) 100% 91%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jul 18, 2014 Wish I Was Here's philosophical scope never gets much bigger than the slip of paper inside a fortune cookie. Go to Full Review Wish I Was Here (2014) 45% 59%

Ian Buckwalter DCist Jul 15, 2014 9/10 A masterpiece of quietly creepy Japanese horror. Go to Full Review Kuroneko (1968) 96% 84%

Ian Buckwalter DCist Jul 15, 2014 8/10 Why shoot a documentary about cave paintings in 3D? Is Werner Herzog crazy? The answer to the second question has always been, "quite possibly," but the answer to the first becomes apparent the first time he trains his camera on the cave walls. Go to Full Review Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) 96% 73%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jul 10, 2014 8.5/10 It's the first big tent-pole film of 2014 that nails everything from start to finish, blending thoughtful allegory, meaningful science fiction and dazzling action spectacle without a hitch. Go to Full Review Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 91% 87%

Ian Buckwalter The Washingtonian Jul 9, 2014 5/10 Whether things are manipulated or not (and the editing suggests they often are), at times this feels like a film that exists for no purpose other than to shock. Go to Full Review Family Instinct (2010) - - - -

Ian Buckwalter DCist Jul 8, 2014 6.5/10 ... a film that largely earns its laughs honestly. Go to Full Review Our Idiot Brother (2011) 70% 51%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jul 3, 2014 5.5/10 Eventually the film does manage to find its own awkward way, with enough effective and less desperate jokes to smooth things over after the rocky start. Go to Full Review Tammy (2014) 24% 36%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jun 26, 2014 7.5/10 This is exactly the sort of ambitious, audacious, and uncompromising filmmaking that deserves to be seen. Go to Full Review Snowpiercer (2013) 94% 73%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jun 19, 2014 3/10 If the film didn't take its own intended profundity so seriously, it might get a pass. Go to Full Review Third Person (2013) 25% 34%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jun 12, 2014 7/10 What separates 22 Jump Street from sequel mediocrity is that everyone's in on the joke. Go to Full Review 22 Jump Street (2014) 84% 77%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Jun 5, 2014 6.5/10 Refreshing and unexpected, both for its humor and for its upending of action norms. Go to Full Review Edge of Tomorrow (2014) 91% 90%

Ian Buckwalter NPR May 29, 2014 4/10 The problem isn't that the jokes are crass; they're just not that funny. Go to Full Review A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) 33% 41%

Ian Buckwalter NPR May 22, 2014 7/10 On the one hand, the movies hardly need yet more examinations of perceptions of masculinity. On the other, one as well-crafted and constantly surprising as Mickle's adaptation of Joe Lansdale's pulpy crime novel is hard to argue against. Go to Full Review Cold in July (2014) 84% 67%

Ian Buckwalter NPR May 15, 2014 7.5/10 This is exactly what big summer movies ought to aspire to: never short on dazzle, but unafraid to let us catch our breath once it's been taken away. Go to Full Review Godzilla (2014) 76% 66%

Ian Buckwalter NPR May 8, 2014 6.5/10 If The Double never fully succeeds, it's still exactly the sort of challenge and risk one wants out of a filmmaker as promising as Ayoade. Go to Full Review The Double (2013) 83% 59%

Ian Buckwalter NPR May 1, 2014 4.5/10 The small moments, the physical comedy, Spidey's constant wisecracking; these things are all charming, but they're counterbalanced by stock summer blockbuster elements that Webb never seems interested in. Go to Full Review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) 51% 64%

Ian Buckwalter NPR Apr 24, 2014 8.5/10 Blue Ruin succeeds on the strength of Saulnier's skill at slowly escalating the tension, even with a would-be action protagonist who is almost comically inept. Go to Full Review Blue Ruin (2013) 96% 79%