Latest Articles

review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

July 15, 2011  •  National Review Online

There has never been anything quite like J. K Rowling's Harry Potter, the hero of a hugely popular series of seven books followed by a successful set of eight movies. The decision to split the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two films turns out to have been a wise one. While part one, which ended abruptly after covering two-thirds of the material from the book, was somewhat anticlimactic, part two is a lean and dramatically satisfying finale. Director David Yates, who has been at the helm for the last three books in the series, and screenwriter Steve Kloves, who has penned all but one of the film scripts, move effortlessly between the large and the small, between grand battle scenes and moments of intimate, human interaction. The special effects are dazzling and the human drama gripping. The film also strikes a nice balance between the serious and the humorous, between tragedy and comedy.

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles

review of Tree of Life

July 5, 2011  •  First Things

A young son in Terrence Malick's Tree of Life asks his mother, "Tell us a story from before we can remember." Malick begins his story even earlier by telling the story from before we can remember. With visually arresting imagery and a mesmerizing musical score, a lengthy opening sequence traces the history of the universe, from initial explosion and expansion through the formation of galaxies and planets to the formation of earth and the development of life on what the philosopher Charles DeKonnick calls a "poor little planet born of a catastrophe."

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles

review of Midnight in Paris

June 20, 2011  •  National Review Online

Woody Allen's new film, Midnight in Paris, is a marked improvement over recent failures such as Whatever Works and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, in which Allen indulged in strident liberal politics and incoherent nihilistic musings. Although its focus is different, Midnight calls to mind some of Allen's most entertaining films, such as Play It Again, Sam, and Purple Rose of Cairo, stories about the power of film to enchant and transport. Here it is the past that mesmerizes. Allen's latest aims high, and it is often arresting. But it falls short of its goal mostly because Allen's script is not up to the task.

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles

review of Of Gods and Men

March 18, 2011  •  National Review Online

Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men is a French-language film based on the true story of the martyrdom of Catholic monks in Algiers in the 1990s. The Cistercian monks, who had lived peaceably serving a mostly Muslim community, became trapped in the battle between government forces and Islamic-extremist groups, a battle that escalated in the immediate aftermath of the slaughter by Islamic fundamentalists of a group of foreign workers. The film is not so much about the political conflict as it is about the lives of the monks, their love of their Muslim neighbors, and their gradual realization that the God they serve is calling them not to abandon their post in the face of the threat of violence. Of Gods and Men is a beautiful film, a film that has the patience to allow the humanity and holiness of very simple lives to emerge slowly. It is the best religious film in many, many years.

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles

review of The Adjustment Bureau

March 4, 2011  •  National Review Online

The new film The Adjustment Bureau, written and directed by George Nolfi, features Matt Damon as David Norris, a politician whose chance encounter with Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) complicates not only his career ambitions but his naïve assumptions about freedom and destiny. The plot, based loosely on a Philip K. Dick short story, involves an adjustment team charged by a mysterious power with tweaking events for the sake of the greater good. Nolfi picks up this motif from Dick's story and makes it the vehicle for testing the love between David and Elise. In a successful fusion of genres, he inscribes a sci-fi thriller within a romantic comedy and the result is an entertaining, amusing, and at times moving film.

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles

Books by Thomas Hibbs