Flores Raras 2013

Guy Lodge, Variety: Attention is retained by the commendably unhistrionic leads, who convincingly etch the pair's enduring devotion even when passions run dry. Read more

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: If Blue Is the Warmest Color is the gloriously messy supernova of this year's lesbian dramas, this is the J. Peterman catalog version: elegant, tasteful, and two-dimensional. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: The life of American Poet Laureate Elizabeth Bishop furnishes surprisingly vivid emotional material in Reaching for the Moon. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Everything ultimately gives way to the stately, simplistic, inevitable pace of by-the-numbers biopics, from some woefully tinny, hit-and-run screenwriting to the usual difficulties surrounding the dramatization of an author's craft. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: In his 19th feature, Mr. Barreto assuredly embraces an approach that's counter to much received wisdom about Bishop's life and work. But his film ultimately dooms itself. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: It's hard not to admire the intentions of a movie that depicts two exceptional women living exactly the way they wanted, together, outside the expected societal norms of the time. But the tone of the film itself feels unfortunately conventional. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: Despite its worthy subject, this feature by veteran Brazilian director Bruno Barreto has a bluntness that's at odds with Bishop's personality and work. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: A classy, grown-up drama. Read more

Calum Marsh, Village Voice: A film which, despite its almost parodically lofty title, takes strictly the most pedestrian approach to its subject ... Read more