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Gary Dowell

Professional film critic, journalist, Byronic hero.
Gary Dowell has written 563 posts for movie ink™

Movie review: ‘Dallas Buyers Club’

A flashback to the worst days of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, when death rates were at their highest and hopes were at their lowest, and biopic of a true drugstore cowboy, Dallas Buyers Club boasts the latest in a string of course-correcting performances by Matthew McConaughey, it’s certified Oscar bait. McConaughey stars as … Continue reading

Movie review: ‘Thor: The Dark World’

With Phase Two of its master plan for pop culture domination now well under way, Marvel has put itself in a precarious position: The novelty value of seeing these characters on the big screen for the first time is spent, the afterglow of The Avengers has worn off, and loft fan expectation means coasting is … Continue reading

This Week’s Special Screenings

The Texas Theatre presents a 35mm print of Alan Pakula’s Watergate suspense drama All the President’s Men (1976), 5pm, November 3, at the theater. Details The Magnolia’s Big Movie film series continues with Sean Connery as Agent 007 in You Only Live Twice (1967), 7:30 and 10pm, November 5, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse presents the ’80s cult classic Adventures in Babysitting (1987), … Continue reading

Movie review: ‘All is Lost’

Part nautical adventure, part existential drama, writer-director J.C. Chandor’s All is Lost represents another career-defining performance from movie icon Robert Redford — no mean feat considering his is a five-decade career decorated by unforgettable turns in such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All the President’s Men, The Natural, and The … Continue reading

Movie review: ‘Ender’s Game’

An underwhelming adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s cult science fiction novel, Ender’s Game is a shiny spectacle with a hollow center, a missed opportunity that makes a half-hearted statement. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) is an introverted child gifted with a strategic mind that makes him an ideal candidate for training in the International Fleet, … Continue reading

This Week’s Special Screenings

The Alamo Drafthouse presents the classic Dracula (1931), 4pm, October 27, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse’s next Girlie Night feature is the supernatural comedy Hocus Pocus (1993), 7 and 9:50pm, October 29, at the theater. Details The Magnolia’s Big Movie film series returns with a screening of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), 7:30 and 10:15pm, October 29, at the theater. Details The Angelika Film … Continue reading

Movie review: ’12 Years a Slave’

Easily the most powerful, compelling, devastating, and just plain blunt film about slavery ever made, Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, 12 Years a Slave is a raw and searing indictment. it plumbs the depths of that Lincoln and Django Unchained only skimmed. Northup’s dark odyssey is a harrowing one: A free man in … Continue reading

This Week’s Special Screenings

The Texas Theatre presents a 35mm print of Martin Scorsese’s early crime drama Mean Streets (1973), various showtimes, October 20, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse presents a 35mm double feature of James Whale’s horror classics Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), 1pm, October 20, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse presents the EC Comics-inspired horror anthology Creepshow (1982), 7:45pm, … Continue reading

Movie review: ‘Carrie’

It may be cinephile blasphemy to suggest it, but Kimberly Peirce’s remake of Carrie isn’t the worst thing to hit the screen, and at times it’s fairly entertaining. Whether or not it’s existence is justifiable is a matter of personal taste (read: how rabid a fan you are of Brian De Palma’s 1976 cult classic). … Continue reading

Movie review: “Escape Plan”

A scatter-shot piece of action pulp, Escape Plan is a sluggish ride broken-up with a few cheap thrills along the way. The only hook here is the teaming of genre icons Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in full-on buddy mode. It’s thankfully free of fan service, meta-humor, and lofty aspirations, though it does perform a … Continue reading

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