A rare blend of serious science fiction and pulse-pounding action, director Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men is the best film of the year. Despite a gloomy apocalyptic setting (that serves as a cautionary warning for us all today), it remains a movie about hope against all odds. The kicker is that this catastrophic future is […]
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“Dreamgirls,” based on the 1981 hit Broadway play, has been hyped all year as a frontrunner for Best Picture, and now that it has finally arrived, it turns out to be as phony as Pat Boone covering a Little Richard tune. It is big and showy and loud, but director Bill Condon’s attempts to make […]
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There are men who do the killing and then there are the men with the real power—the ones who order the kill. As far as espionage movies go, Robert DeNiro’s sophomore directorial effort “The Good Shepherd” probably gets closer to what it is really like in the shadowy business of state secrets than many other […]
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“Eragon” is certainly a kids movie, but unlike “Harry Potter” or “Chronicles of Narnia” it doesn’t hold appeal for audiences young and old. I haven’t spoken with any ten-year-olds about “Eragon,” but I imagine even they would say this movie is for kids. With its characters and central narrative lifted almost directly from “Star Wars” […]
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If you’re going to make a your statement with a conscientious issue film, then do it. If instead, you want to make a fast-paced action adventure movie with a top-of-the-A-list superstar, then blockbuster away. If you try to do it all at once, you had better have the right stuff. Because if you don’t, you […]
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The term “auteur” is applied to those directors whose personal stamp is recognizable over their body of work. Similar subjects, stylistic choices and thematic elements can be found in the films of an auteur. Congratulations, Mel Gibson, you are now an auteur. Starring in “The Road Warrior” and all those “Lethal Weapon” movies obviously taught […]
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“Blood Diamond” is an issue movie dressed up like a bloody action film. Or is it vice versa? In the tradition of director Edward Zwick’s other social statement films “Glory” and “The Last Samurai,” this one also revolves around a privileged group of people taking advantage of a less fortunate group. In this case, it […]
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Preteen Christian warriors wearing camouflage make-up and dressed in combat fatigues brandish swords in a bizarre choreographed dance. A 10-year old girl weeps in a trance-like spiritual bliss, looking up to the sky. A 12-year old boy speaks in tongues. Children touch a cardboard effigy of President Bush while a massive church prays to guide […]
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For an R-rated movie that glorifies the devil, bong rips and cock pushups, “Tenacious D in Pick of Destiny” is actually a pretty harmless concoction. No matter that the duo that bears half of the film’s title throws the “f” word around more casually than a Scorsese gangster—Jack Black and Kyle Gass are pure as […]
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“The Fountain” is a polarizing movie that will frustrate the more practical moviegoer with the least amount of forward dramatic movement of any Hollywood film in recent memory. That said, it bravely flaunts its artistic qualities by showcasing the power of poetic imagery and daring to wear its sentimental heart on its sleeve. Dramatic conflict […]
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Thank God for Christopher Guest. “For Your Consideration” is hilarious, thoroughly refreshing, comedic genius. Seriously, I laughed more genuinely than I have all year. “Consideration” is almost as good as Guest’s “Waiting For Guffman,” which is easily one of the ten funniest movies ever made. The construct for the latest Guest classic is that of […]
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In the wake of the viciously satirical comedy “Borat,” Christopher Guest’s low-key Hollywood send-up “For Your Consideration” seems downright quaint. The writer/actor/director may be lampooning the late-year movie awards season, but he refuses to condemn the actions of his self-absorbed targets outright. Instead, he regards his oddball characters with the same warmth and affection that […]
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Fans of the technical side of films – how they go from the editing room to the big or small screen and the hands they fall into on the way – will savor the latest documentary from director Kirby Dick (“Derrida”), “This Film Is Not Yet Rated.” As much as cinema-philes will gravitate to the […]
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Nervous and reserved IRS agent Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) sits near the middle of an articulated double-bus. As it collapses in and expands out like an accordion, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is alternately pulled close to him and then pushed away. This inventive scene from “Stranger Than Fiction,” where the camera vacillates with the flow […]
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