Movie Reviews
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MOVIE REVIEW- Everybody talks: But what's everybody doing about war? Published on Nov 8th, 2006 0 comments
Would you rather have "a high-minded debate about war and policy" or watch movie megastars do it?
The makers of Lions for Lambs are betting you'll choose the latter, but that doesn't make them...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Snippy: Bening's shameless Oscar bid Published on Nov 2nd, 2006 1 comments
Annette Bening delivers a shameless, "Gimme an Oscar!" performance as bipolar Deirdre Burroughs in Running with Scissors, a bipolar movie based on Augusten Burroughs' memoir of coming of age in the...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Blue magic: Crowe, Washington take us back Published on Nov 1st, 2006 0 comments
Despite a large number of African Americans in our prisons, most of them have grown up without role models for major crime. Even in ‘70s blaxploitation films like Black Caesar and The Black...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Oh, grow up: Raves for 'Little Children' Published on Oct 26th, 2006 0 comments
"From the director of In the Bedroom‚" is enough to raise expectations unrealistically high for Little Children. Well, damned if Todd Field's second feature isn't even better than his first....
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MOVIE REVIEW- In training: 'Darjeeling' not everyone's cup of tea Published on Oct 25th, 2006 0 comments
The Whitman brothers, who haven't spoken in the year since their father's funeral, meet in India to try to reconnect in The Darjeeling Limited.
Francis (Owen Wilson), the control freak who organized...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Teen queen: A hairy look at <i>la reine</i> Published on Oct 19th, 2006 0 comments
Not as bad as its hostile reception at Cannes would suggest, Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's follow-up to Lost in Translation, has its screamingly horrible aspects but others that are excellent. It...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Ben in Boston: Directing debut satisfies some Published on Oct 18th, 2006 0 comments
If he wanted street cred, why didn't Ben Affleck just cut a rap album like everyone else? Instead, he's gone home to Boston for his feature directing debut and filmed Gone Baby Gone in seedy sections...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Minute man: Diebold and de beautiful Published on Oct 12th, 2006 0 comments
Looking at the state of American politics, you have to laugh or cry. Man of the Year laughs.
Barry Levinson is back in the satirical mode of his Wag the Dog in what is essentially a two-hour Robin...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Legal evil: A thriller with a heart and brain Published on Oct 11th, 2006 0 comments
Can enlightenment catch on? It does, only slowly, in movies like The Insider, Erin Brockovich, and now Michael Clayton, one of the best legal thrillers that doesn't involve John Grisham.
It's not...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Top fin: Dude, where's my boat? Published on Oct 5th, 2006 0 comments
It's hard to believe there's an elite force left that hasn't been celebrated in a movie. Perhaps the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are the last, and they get their dramatic due in The Guardian....
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MOVIE REVIEW- Snoozer: Take No Doz to 'Scoundrels' Published on Sep 28th, 2006 0 comments
Call School for Scoundrels the School of Missed Opportunities, or maybe The Sting without zing. There are some hilarious moments here– and seeing it the night after Jackass Number Two, the...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Hicksville: Not fit for any king Published on Sep 21st, 2006 0 comments
If you want to see corrupt politics on a grand scale, watch the news. If you're nostalgic for cruder, low-tech dirty politicians of a bygone era, see All the King's Men. The latter is also...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Kiss off: Wishing for what might be Published on Sep 14th, 2006 0 comments
Who knew relationships were so damn complicated? Things were simple in the movies I grew up with. If I'd seen The Last Kiss when I was a teenager... I don't know what I would have done differently,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Odd couple: Can 2 days in Paris save this affair? Published on Sep 13th, 2006 0 comments
Although the line from Casablanca most often cited with regard to 2 Days in Paris is "We'll always have Paris," there's another that's more appropriate: "The problems of three little people don't...
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MOVIE REVIEW- It's tempting, but... In men we don't trust Published on Sep 7th, 2006 0 comments
You won't go broke betting a movie called Trust the Man is going to involve at least one untrustworthy man. In other words, it's a chick flick– a chick flick written and directed by a man (Bart...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Wild western: '3:10 to Yuma' worth Crowe-ing about Published on Sep 6th, 2006 0 comments
If you've ever wondered why most actors (as opposed to movie stars) would rather play villains than heroes, watch Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma. Both do excellent work, but Bale,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- V for Vienna: A romantic spooky illusion Published on Aug 31st, 2006 0 comments
Magicians creep me out, okay? Maybe it's a guy thing: if I can't be in control, I want to at least understand how things work.
In the movies, it's safe to attribute anything that appears magical (...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Bad bounce: Apply paddle to 'Balls of Fury' makers Published on Aug 30th, 2006 0 comments
Timing is everything in comedy, and in the movie business that goes double for the timing of a film's release. Death at a Funeral got lost in the shadow of Superbad, opening the same weekend....
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MOVIE REVIEW- Rays-ing the bar: Let the 'Sunshine' in Published on Aug 24th, 2006 0 comments
Feeling depressed? Think no one's got it worse than you? You need a little sunshine in your life– a Little Miss Sunshine, to be exact. This dysfunctional family road trip comedy wallows in...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Big hate: Night of the living Mormons Published on Aug 23rd, 2006 0 comments
Zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, ghouls, sharks. To the pantheon of classic movie monsters, add the most fearsome of all: Mormons!
September Dawn uses the classic horror plot of unsuspecting...
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MOVIE REVIEW- School daze: 'Animal House' meets 'Old School' Published on Aug 17th, 2006 0 comments
At the end of Accepted– while I was wondering what the Dept. of Veterans Affairs had done to rate an acknowledgement– the critic next to me proclaimed, "I could feel the world getting...
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MOVIE REVIEW- All in the moments: 2001: a Stone odyssey Published on Aug 10th, 2006 0 comments
One might expect conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone, in making a film about 9/11, to rub salt in the nation's wounds with a scenario about the Bush administration staging the day's events as an excuse...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Can't wait: Itching to exit Miami, vice Published on Jul 27th, 2006 0 comments
If you watched NBC's three-hour hypefest for the Miami Vice movie, you got a taste of the lack of chemistry between stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. As they did on TV, the guys strike individual...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Jack's back: How much action can Pirates endure? Published on Jul 13th, 2006 0 comments
What was so great about Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl was the way it came out of left field, reviving the action-adventure subgenre of the pirate movie and winning Johnny...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Out of season: 'Monster House' months too early Published on Jul 13th, 2006 0 comments
The idea of new animated features opening three weeks in a row sounds like three studios made a suicide pact, or Hallmark declared National Animation Month so they could sell cards for it–...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Sadistic Streep: Over the top in <i>Prada</i> Published on Jul 6th, 2006 0 comments
What happens when Mean Girls grow up? They become mean women, of course, and some of them go to New York and find work in journalism or other fields where a lack of compassion is an asset. The...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Super 'Superman': He's baaaaaaack.... Published on Jun 29th, 2006 0 comments
We don't need another hero, but we still need the old ones, judging from Superman Returns, which confirms the superhero status of Bryan Singer, the ex-director of the X-Men series.
We didn't need...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Libre it alone: <i>Nacho</i>'s no <i>Napoleon</i> Published on Jun 15th, 2006 0 comments
When is a smackdown not a slamdunk? When it˙s reviewed by someone who doesn˙t care for wrestling.
I'˙m not one of the people who didn˙t get Napoleon Dynamite, the breakthrough...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Nashville, MN: 'Prairie Home...' does Altman proud Published on Jun 8th, 2006 0 comments
A Prairie Home Companion is assured of two audiences: fans of Robert Altman and fans of Garrison Keillor. Both will have a great time, as will just about anyone lured by the rootsy music, the comedy...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Assinine Aniston:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Giving divorce a bad name Published on Jun 1st, 2006 0 comments
There's no winner in the battle of the sexes, according to The Break-Up, a romantic comedy, or anti-romantic comedy, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in what could be a foreshadowing of...
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