Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor is a freelance film critic, book reviewer and feature writer living in Los Angeles.
Born in Israel and raised in London, Taylor taught media studies at the University of Washington in Seattle; her book Prime Time Families: Television Culture in Post-War America was published by the University of California Press.
Taylor has written for Village Voice Media, the LA Weekly, The New York Times, Elle magazine and other publications, and was a regular contributor to KPCC-Los Angeles' weekly film-review show FilmWeek.
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The sudden de-Spaceying of a lead role is the leastinteresting thing about Ridley Scott's propulsive thriller that features a standout performance by Michelle Williams.
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Critic Ella Taylor says Kenneth Branagh's wildly unnecessary retread of the Agatha Christie tale is "fatally tepid."
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The writing/directing debut of Hallie Meyers-Shyer (daughter of Nancy Meyers) features tired tropes, stiff acting and lots of hand-wringing about how tough it is to break into Hollywood.
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Sofia Coppola's lush visual aesthetic infuses this study in sublimated lust with just enough sly, Southern-Gothic bodice-ripping to intrigue and satisfy.
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Director Miguel Arteta and screenwriter Mike White collaborate on a film featuring Salma Hayek as a healer who finds herself at a very uncomfortable meal.
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Director Terry George's historical drama about three people swept up in the 1915 massacre of Armenians lacks subtlety and sophistication, but features powerful, visceral imagery.
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Matthew McConaughey gained weight and lost hair to throw himself into this tale of a real-life stock-market swindle. The film aches for us to admire his reckless, grasping selfishness; we don't.
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A sharp-tongued young woman weathers the sundry mortifications of teenage life in a film from first-time writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig.
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Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga play Richard and Mildred Loving, a Virginia couple whose interracial marriage propels them to the forefront of the civil rights movement — and to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Our critic Ella Taylor loves this "generous, candid" sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary,in which the now 40-something Bridget willfully faces down new professional and romantic challenges.