Movie Reviews: Annie, Night at the Museum, Wild | Buzz Blog

Friday, December 19, 2014

Movie Reviews: Annie, Night at the Museum, Wild

Posted By on December 19, 2014, 3:02 PM

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The pre-Christmas week brings a slew of new releases, including an updated classic musical and a new documentary by the legendary Frederick Wiseman.

Scott Renshaw thinks Wiseman's National Gallery is the year's best documentary, a three-hour tour through the workings of London's National Gallery that becomes a concise encapsulation of the entire human experience of art. The new, contemporary update of the musical Annie (pictured), meanwhile, provides a charming showcase for re-imagining the show with a terrific cast. Wild brings some intensity to the real-life story of Cheryl Strayed's thousand-mile hike from Mexico to Oregon, but Reese Witherspoon's performance doesn't allow us inside her pain.

Danny Bowes visits the third Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and finds it doing exactly what an audience would expect it to do, for better or worse.

In this week's feature reviews, Scott Renshaw feels little more than relief to finally be at the end of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy with The Battle of the Five Armies. And the Sundance hit The Babadook—the year's best film—brings terror and brilliant psychological depth to the story of a single mother at the breaking point.

About The Author

Scott Renshaw

Scott Renshaw

Bio:
Scott Renshaw has been a City Weekly staff member since 1999, including assuming the role of primary film critic in 2001 and Arts & Entertainment Editor in 2003. Scott has covered the Sundance Film Festival for 25 years, and provided coverage of local arts including theater, pop-culture conventions, comedy,... more

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