Every now and then, a movie comes along that changes the rules. “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” is one of those movies. We should have seen it coming. Reality-based humor just keeps getting more and more extreme. The simple pranks of TV’s long-running “Candid Camera” have finally morphed […]
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I watched most of “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” with my hand over my face in disapproval and awe. Sacha Baron Cohen has got to be the most daring satirist of our time and his laser sharp faux-documentary is as cruel as it is unbelievably funny. The overwhelming […]
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There are a remarkably few mainstream films about the contemporary soul of Great Britain. We are all accustomed to the prim-and-proper aesthetic of films like “Pride and Prejudice” or “Remains of the Day.” Also familiar are the cheeky, mildly irreverent movies starring Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings and A Funeral”) or that puckering American girl who […]
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“Running with Scissors” is a preposterously over-the-top and funny satire of the 1970s. Written and directed by “Nip/Tuck” creator Ryan Murphy, it is essentially a tale of the “me” decade run amok, with the open attitudes of the hippie generation exploding in a fractured mess all over the nuclear family unit. When 13-year old Augusten […]
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Clint Eastwood’s filmography is a mile long and filled with acting, directing and musical credits, which distinguish him as one of Hollywood’s biggest names. Eastwood’s last directorial outing was the highly overrated “Million Dollar Baby,” a heavy-handed, clunky mess of a movie that put a mysterious hex on audiences which carried it all the way […]
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“The Prestige” may be the second movie to come out this year featuring magicians at the turn of the century, but it is the only one that offers an in-depth look at what drives the men behind the magic. “The Illusionist” is an undercooked love triangle dressed up in Victorian clothes, while “The Prestige,” with […]
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Three U.S. soldiers struggle to climb a sandy hill in the dark as bombs explode around them. When they make it to the top, the men work together to plant an American flag in the ground. As the camera continues upwards, we see that the “bombs” are fireworks and the men are standing atop a […]
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Martin Scorcese’s latest feature “The Departed” stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg – an A-list dream cast if there ever was one. With all that fire-power the plot really has to be a thing of wonder. Sadly, it doesn’t quite get there. Although “The Departed” isn’t all […]
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Apart from being a technical marvel, ‘The Departed’ is also a bleak and terrifying study of the cyclical violence.
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“The Science of Sleep” is the latest film from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Michel Gondry. Gondry also wrote the screenplay for “Sleep,” creating a complete film experience that is as charming as it is bizarre. “Sleep” is a vibrant narrative in three languages and – as if that’s not enough to keep […]
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It’s another slow Monday morning, and as I sit at my computer avoiding work, I think of the innocent idealism of Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal), the young artist at the center of Michel Gondry’s fantastical new film, “The Science of Sleep.” If only my job could allow me an unconditional creative outlet. Returning to Paris […]
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One of the funniest parts of “Jackass Number Two” is the warning at the beginning that states that all stunts were “performed by professionals.” In the strictest sense of the word, I guess anybody who gets paid thousands of dollars to chug an entire beer through his butthole is a professional. Using that criterion, that […]
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Watching Howard Hughes’ “Hells Angels” fleet of biplanes speed recklessly across the sky in the 2004 Hughes biopic “The Aviator,” I remembered thinking that there is a great movie waiting to be made about World War I pilots at the dawn of aviation. “Flyboys” is not that movie. It is set in 1917 and features […]
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“It’s like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.” Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap may have been talking about the color of his new album, but he may as well have been talking about “The Black Dahlia.” By definition, film noir is black. Pitch black. Some argue […]
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For his first lead role since the 2004 surprise hit “Garden State,” Zach Braff is back with “The Last Kiss,” a melodrama about impending adulthood that is seriously lacking in laughs. Unlike “Garden State,” though, which defined ennui for the post-emo college crowd, this remake of recent Italian film “L’Ultimo Bacio,” was not written or […]
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