Movie Reviews
Chicken Run
If a better, funnier, smarter, more endearing film than "Chicken Run" comes along this year, I will eat a live chicken and shoot the feathers out my butt.
From the British folks who brought us the daft "Wallace & Gromit" Claymation cartoons co...
Me, Myself & Irene
There are people who are tired of Jim Carrey. They find his mugging and cloying to be unfunny and self-centered, like a class clown who favors funny faces over humorous content, who uses energy and pratfalls to make up for his lack of actual talent. ...
Fantasia/2000
Despite Walt Disney's personal love of the film, 1940's "Fantasia" was noteworthy mainly for its technical brilliance. As a movie, it had great music, but was otherwise not terribly interesting or amusing to watch.
One enters "Fantasia 2000" with ...
Shaft
To paraphrase the title song, that "Shaft" is one bad ... movie.
Isaac Hayes' theme song from the 1971 original, of which this is either a remake or a sequel (the movie itself seems unsure which), is intact and as cool as ever. And the film even ...
Boys and Girls
The ads for "Boys and Girls" make it look like another raunchy teen sex comedy, leading people to wonder how it could possibly have escaped with a PG-13 rating.
Well, here's how: It's not a raunchy teen sex comedy. It's not raunchy, it's not abou...
Titan A.E.
"Titan A.E." looks fantastic. The computer-animated backgrounds and spaceship dog-fights are wonderful, and the more traditional-looking character animation is lively and fluid.
Unfortunately, this movie, like most movies since the 1930s, is a ta...
Jesus’ Son
A movie that refuses to explain its own title is a movie that is either to be admired for its pluckiness, or reviled for its pretentiousness. "Jesus' Son" falls into the former category, thankfully, using the considerable (and overlooked) talents of ...
Butterfly (Spanish)
The 1930s were a turbulent decade for Spain. The monarchy fell in 1931, and the ensuing years saw a Republican government in power (viewed by some as communists), with fascist nationalists opposing them, each vying for public favor.
In the midst ...
Gone in 60 Seconds
If you're a teen-age boy, you'll love "Gone in 60 Seconds," because I think it must have been your peers who made the movie.
It's full of car crashes, high school-level dialogue (someone actually says, "We've got company!" while being chased), a p...
Groove
"Groove" offers a look at the underground rave scene, providing an accurate picture of what one night must be like, but without giving any insight beyond the superficial.
Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Greg Harrison, "Groove" is sma...
Big Momma’s House
When is a man dressed up as a huge black woman NOT funny? Never! Well, except in "Big Momma's House," a film based on the premise that Martin Lawrence is funny merely by being Martin Lawrence, and if you put a floppy prosthetic body and a house dress...
Kikujiro (Japanese)
"Kikujiro" is a failure of a movie, an utter mess that manages to be irritating and offensive IN ADDITION to being the worst thing a film can be: deadly boring.
There's this young boy, Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi), a lugubrious, puffy-faced lad who l...
Passion of Mind
"Passion of Mind" benefits from a fascinating premise, a lush musical score by Randy Edelman, and a solid actress -- Demi Moore -- in the lead.
It suffers, however, from that same fascinating premise, which we will discuss momentarily.
Moore ...
8 1/2 Women
This boring bit of European soft porn features characters who never stop talking about their private parts, the private parts of others, and sex. They also have huge piles of sex, in various unsettling combinations and situations, though this is neve...
Mission: Impossible 2
The star of "Mission: Impossible 2" is ... the director, John Woo.
Easily the best action-movie director currently living on Earth, Woo has powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. With his trademark slow-motion shots and spectacular ...
Road Trip
"Road Trip" really, really wants to be the next "There's Something About Mary": a gross-out teen comedy that is critically praised for its outrageous, albeit crass, humor. The only thing stopping it is the fact that it's not funny, largely because it...
Dinosaur
"Dinosaur" is a technical triumph, the most seamless blending of live-action scenery with computer-animated characters ever seen on film.
Unfortunately, what the film lacks is a good story, good characters, and good humor.
No one is a greater...
Shanghai Noon
As much as I enjoy Jackie Chan, I'm going to have to say it: The best thing about "Shanghai Noon" is his partner, Owen Wilson.
Wilson's method of line-delivery, in which he sounds like he's ad-libbing everything (and often is, from what I underst...
Small Time Crooks
Woody Allen has made a career of doing films that critics love and audiences ignore. For the first time in a quarter-century, he may finally have a popular success with "Small Time Crooks," by far his most accessible, pleasant comedy in years.
Al...
Center Stage
In "Ballet Company 90210" -- I'm sorry, I mean "Center Stage" -- we're treated to what "Fame" would have been if it had been a poorly acted soap opera.
The setting is the American Ballet Academy, a training ground for would-be dancers. Their coll...
Battlefield Earth
Here's what's good about "Battlefield Earth," the new futuristic movie based on L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 novel:
The visual effects, and the fact that at least it doesn't try to preach a message or teach a moral.
Now here's what's bad about "Batt...
Screwed
No one's saying "Screwed" is any brilliant piece of comedic genius. But if you find Norm MacDonald or Dave Chappelle funny, you'll be at least mildly entertained by this little speck of a film.
MacDonald plays Willard, the life-long butler of the...
Hamlet
Michael Almereyda's already-famous adaptation of "Hamlet," set in 2000 in New York City, is much like the play itself: flawed and brilliant at the same time, and, when it really hits its stride, absolutely mesmerizing to watch.
Most of the minor ...
Held Up
"Held Up" begins with Michael (Jamie Foxx) and his fiancee, Rachel (Nia Long), driving through Arizona on their way across the country. Rachel has to go to the bathroom, so they stop off at a Little League game in a tiny desert town, and Rachel gets ...
I Dreamed of Africa
After 45 minutes of nothing happening in "I Dreamed of Africa," I found myself wishing the animals would start attacking people.
This is Kenya, after all. If you're not going to show us some interesting characters and allow us to grow with them a...
The Basket
"The Basket" earnestly strives to be a family-friendly movie that teaches a nice lesson while entertaining its audience, all while avoiding profanity, sex or violence.
And while it doesn't succeed at being a particularly great piece of filmmaking...
Up at the Villa
"Up at the Villa" takes place in 1930s Italy, just before the Nazis came on the scene, at a time when the rich folks sat around drinking and saying things like, "Morning is my favorite time here," to which someone would respond, "Yes, it is quite lov...
Adrenaline Drive (Japanese)
The Japanese "Adrenaline Drive," written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, is a merry little romp through the world of gangsters, blood money and romance.
It's a film that appear to be of little substance, unless you start asking questions about wh...
Gladiator
When you hear a movie is 2 1/2 hours long, you tend to wonder if maybe something could be cut from it. Seems like most films that go more than 2 hours tend to wander at some point.
Not "Gladiator." "Gladiator" is so tightly written (by David H. F...
Gun Shy
You'd have to classify "Gun Shy" under the "it didn't bug me, and nobody got hurt" category.
Charlie (Liam Neeson) is an undercover cop (or perhaps government agent; the movie's not real clear on this) who's got a bad case of the nerves. Seems hi...
Frequency
People go to the movies for one or more of these reasons: to laugh, to cry, to feel suspense and excitement, or to feel warm and fuzzy. "Frequency" is the rare item that blends all of those into one fine-tuned, engaging movie, rarely missteping and n...
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
For everyone who liked the 1994 live-action "Flintstones" film, beware: Everything that made it enjoyable is absent from "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas," an unnecessary prequel in which we learn how Fred became a Jedi, and how Barney turned to t...
Where the Heart Is
You'd think a film with a title like this would be full of heartfelt sentiments and sweetness, but no. "Where the Heart Is" instead is full of poorly written Hollywood tripe, a coming-of-age story in which yeah, the main character gets older, but she...
The Big Kahuna
The influence of Samuel Beckett's absurdist play "Waiting for Godot" is still being felt, lately in "The Big Kahuna," a film based on the play "Hospitality Suite," written (and adapted for the screen) by Roger Rueff.
The situation: Three salesmen...
Time Code
In one of the most inventive films in years, "Time Code" writer/director Mike Figgis set up four digital cameras to follow four sets of actors for 93 minutes, all without any cuts or edits. He also gave them only situations, allowing them to improvis...
Bossa Nova (Portuguese/English)
Bruno Barreto's "Bossa Nova" is as appealing and gorgeous as a travel brochure for Rio de Janeiro, and just about as deep, too. It's a movie about falling in love that can make you fall in love with ... the scenery.
Rio is a gorgeous place, and t...
Love and Basketball
"Love and Basketball" is a movie about love and basketball -- specifically, the idea that the former might be more important than the latter, but that maybe they can intermesh.
In 1981 suburban Los Angeles, 11-year-old Monica Wright (Kyla Pratt) ...
Gossip
The rumors are true: "Gossip" sucks.
Some movies descend into ridiculousness. "Gossip" starts out there and just gets worse.
The premise -- the nature of gossip, how it's spread, what damage it can do -- is interesting, but Gregory Poirier's ...
Croupier
As Jack Manfred, the suave, jagged-faced casino dealer at the center of "Croupier," actor Clive Owen proves to be powerfully unflappable -- a working-stiff James Bond, whose understated intensity draws you into the movie and refuses to let you leave....
The Virgin Suicides
"Cecilia was the first to go."
So says the narrator in "The Virgin Suicides," the atmospheric directorial debut by Sofia Coppola (daughter of Francis Ford Coppola).
Cecilia (Hanna R. Hall) is the 13-year-old daughter of the Lisbons (James Woo...
U-571
After a first act that is mostly in German with English subtitles, leading into long exposition scenes that take forever, "U-571" turns into one heck of a taut, exciting action film with surprising depth (get it? It's about a submarine!) and emotion....
28 Days
Triumph over alcoholism is either uplifting or funny, depending on how it's played. "28 Days" hedges its bets, playing it somewhere in between, succeeding at neither angle, and coming off as slight, frothy and quasi-meaningful -- a "lite" movie if ev...
Keeping the Faith
So there's this priest and this rabbi, and they're both in love with the same girl. And then one of them winds up with her.
OK, so it's not a great joke. "Keeping the Faith" is not a great movie, either, though it is very good in certain respects...
Where the Money Is
There is only one reason to see "Where the Money Is": Paul Newman.
While many great actors become gross self-parodies as they age (Charlton Heston, Sean Connery), Newman has retained extraordinary dignity and charm. I'm no woman, but I'm guessing...
East Is East
"East is east and west is west and ne'er the twain shall meet," is the poet's line, I believe, and it's a good reference point for the title of this British film, about a Pakistani man who marries a British woman and tries to raise their children as ...
American Psycho
"American Psycho," Sundance's most talked-about film this year, lives a double life as much as its main character does.
By day, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a Wall Street tycoon at the height of the late-'80s, capitalist-greed era. He fits...
Me Myself I
Australia is known for being a friendly, laid-back sort of place whose citizens don't take life too seriously. Pip Karmel's Aussie film "Me Myself I" exemplifies all of this with a story that has some psychological impact, but that mostly just wants ...
Joe Gould’s Secret
We're well into "Joe Gould's Secret" before we realize: Oh, yeah, there's supposed to be a secret in this movie, isn't there? The characters are so engrossing that, despite the languid pace, we're never left wanting for more.
Stanley Tucci direct...
East-West (French/Russian)
"East-West" is a lean, well-made film about a nightmarish situation: being held prisoner in your own home.
The time is 1946. Following World War II, Stalin has invited all the old Russian expatriates back, welcoming them with alleged opening arms...
Southpaw (documentary)
"Southpaw" is an engaging documentary about Francis Barrett, a young Irishman who beat the odds to box in the 1996 Olympics. However, it is more than a "Rocky"-style sports film, with enough human interest to involve even those viewers who aren't int...
Return to Me
All romantic comedies are now compared to "You've Got Mail," which evidently was the most important film in the history of the genre. (I was not consulted on this decision.)
"Return to Me" is approximately as funny and ultimately as sweet as "You...
Rules of Engagement
In courtroom dramas, audiences hate "smoking gun" scenarios, where the situation seems hopeless until, at the last minute, someone bursts in with a damning piece of evidence, or a witness suddenly starts telling the truth, or whatever.
But at lea...
Ready to Rumble
Remember how "Dumb and Dumber" had a few moments of actual comedy, mixed in with a lot of gross, stupid stuff? Take out those moments of actual comedy, and you've got yourself a film called "Ready to Rumble."
Remember that great episode of the "T...
Black and White
The most unusual thing about writer/director James Toback's "Black and White" is that he actually thought it would be a GOOD idea to allow Mike Tyson to improvise.
Mike Tyson is not an actor, of course; he's a boxer/rapist who speaks in a squeaky...
Price of Glory
"Price of Glory" is a film full of good intentions that simply does not deliver on the goods. It's a boxing movie with very little boxing, and a rather non-dramatic family drama.
Arturo Ortega (Jimmy Smits) is a Mexican-American who was once a ch...
The Color of Paradise (Farsi)
Do you love a good Iranian film? Hey, who doesn't? "The Color of Paradise" ("Rang-e khoda") is a sensitive, peaceful story from writer/director Majid Majidi about the struggles of a blind boy and his father.
Mohammad (Mohsen Ramezani) is the boy,...
High Fidelity
"High Fidelity" is the ultimate in goofy movie hipness, so cool that it doesn't even seem to be trying (which of course is the only way to BE cool). For example, the pop-music aficionados in the film automatically disqualify a song from possible incl...
The Road to El Dorado
DreamWorks scored big with "The Prince of Egypt" a couple years ago, drawing attention for being the first studio in quite some time to give Disney a run for its money when it comes to producing high-quality animated features.
"The Road to El Dor...
The Skulls
"The Skulls" stars pudgy-faced, non-leading-man Joshua Jackson as its leading man, a non-rich Ivy-Leaguer named Lucas McNamara who becomes part of an extremely non-secret secret organization called The Skulls.
But guess what? The Skulls do dark, ...
The Filth and the Fury (documentary)
As a non-fan of the Sex Pistols -- if I'm in the mood for pioneer punk-rock bands, I prefer the Ramones -- I'm probably not the best one to assess the quality of "The Filth and the Fury" as a documentary on that band. I never had any questions about ...
Waking the Dead
"Waking the Dead" could have been a terrific movie. Instead, it's a good movie, hampered by an intriguing storyline that winds up being misused.
The film jumps back and forth between 1973-ish and 1982-ish, piecing together bit by bit the story I'...
Whatever It Takes
What will this movie do to make sure it never strays from the established teen-romantic-comedy formula? Whatever it takes.
The film, just like its characters, comes across as blandly likable, despite being completely predictable and 100 percent s...
Here on Earth
The first thing you hear in "Here on Earth" tells you exactly what the movie is going to be like. It's the over-played radio love song "Black Balloon," by Goo Goo Dolls, the kind that makes older teen-age girls swoon and allows their boyfriends to pu...
Romeo Must Die
"Romeo Must Die" indeed. And the sooner the better.
In this loosest of all possible retellings of "Romeo and Juliet," it's the Sharks vs. the Jet -- Jet Li, that is, the Chinese action hero who stars here as Han Sing (the alleged "Romeo" characte...
Beyond the Mat (documentary)
Much was made of the fact that World Wrestling Federation president Vince McMahon didn't want ads for Barry W. Blaustein's documentary "Beyond the Mat" to run during WWF programming. One has to wonder what he was so concerned about.
As exposes go...
Erin Brockovich
What could have been just another based-on-a-true-story, common-man-triumphs-against-corporate-greed potboiler is made into something just a little better, thanks to the thousand-watt charisma of Ms. Julia Roberts as the title character in "Erin Broc...
Who Gets the House?
From the fine folks at Feature Films for Families comes an exceptionally bad piece of work that they're hoping people will watch just because it has no nudity, swearing or violence, and because it has a happy message.
Never mind that any adult wh...
Final Destination
It was about half-way through "Final Destination" that I finally caught on: I shouldn't be laughing AT this movie; I should be laughing WITH it.
For 45 minutes or so, I'd been slapping my forehead over how lame, how contrived, how infernally perf...
Orphans
"Orphans" is every bit the sort of movie you describe as "cheeky," in that it is rude and obnoxious, but not unlikably so. In fact, you suspect it's got a warm heart underneath all that mischievousness.
From Glasgow writer/director Peter Mullan c...
God’s Army
In speaking of Elder Dalton, the hard-working missionary played by Richard Dutcher in "God's Army," someone says, "He means well; I think he tries a little too hard."
I jotted that line down because I knew there was a chance the sentiment could wi...
Mission to Mars
"Mission to Mars" is like a waking coma. It's peaceful and calm. Characters perform actions and talk -- man, do they ever talk -- yet everything happens so slowly, it's like a dream. A really boring dream that you can't wake up from. Brian De Palma, ...
The Ninth Gate
The biggest revelation in Roman Polanski's new film "The Ninth Gate" is that apparently, Satan himself once wrote a book. Sure, we knew he had ghost-written a few things -- "The Bridges of Madison County," "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kind...
The Next Best Thing
If "The Next Best Thing" doesn't turn out to be among the five worst movies of the year, it won't be for lack of trying.
It has all the makings of a terrible movie. It casts Madonna, who has never been capable of acting, as its lead, and she even ...
Drowning Mona
While some movies are so obnoxious they seem to sit on your head and relieve themselves, "Drowning Mona" merely sits on your head and does nothing. But rest assured, it DOES sit on your head, and you WON'T like it.
The premise suggests black humor...
What Planet Are You From?
"What Planet Are You From?" is a surprisingly sincere comedy that, despite its ridiculous (and occasionally obscene) concepts, and the presence of Garry Shandling, might actually qualify for the "romantic comedy" category.
It starts out strong, w...
My Dog Skip
If it weren't for the simultaneous success of TV's "Malcolm in the Middle," the heart-warming family film "My Dog Skip" might get no attention at all -- the same undeserved fate that "October Sky" and "The Iron Giant" got last year.
As it happens...
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" is the sort of movie that you enjoy watching, except for one nagging question that keeps gnawing at the back of your mind: What's the point?
When acclaimed independent-film director Jim Jarmusch is writer and d...
Mifune
"Mifune" is a Dogma film, meaning it adheres to the principles set forth in 1995 by a collective of Danish filmmakers: no artificial lighting, no outside props, must be shot on location, no musical score, director doesn't get credited, hand-held came...
Reindeer Games
I'm a sucker for any film that starts by showing us a bunch of dead Santas. It means the comedy's gonna be black, and that nothing is sacred.
Alas, John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games" doesn't quite live up to that marker, but it does hit severa...
Wonder Boys
In "Wonder Boys," Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a novelist/college professor who's been working on his latest book for seven years, whose wife has just left him, and whose mistress (Frances McDormand) has just announced she's pregnant.
Furth...
Not One Less (Chinese)
Chinese director Zhang Yimou's "Not One Less" is a rather moving but slightly befuddled film about the difference between childhood and adulthood, and the importance of individuals.
Set in the tiny remote village of Shuixian, the story follows We...
Same River Twice
"Same River Twice," a new film written and directed by BYU graduate Scott Featherstone, has the following things going for it: It's sincere, it's wholesome and it's beautifully filmed on several scenic rivers.
It's the sort of movie that would be...
The Whole Nine Yards
"The Whole Nine Yards" is a comedy about hit men, but it's not as black as, say, "Gross Pointe Blank." In fact, it's one of the most sunshiney films I've ever seen about guys who get paid to kill people.
In Montreal, Nick "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew ...
Hanging Up
Those geniuses in marketing have screwed up again. They've billed the Diane Keaton-directed film "Hanging Up" as a sophisticated comedy about three very different sisters all trying to cope with each other, when in actuality, it's about an old guy dy...
Pitch Black
At first glance, "Pitch Black" appears to be derivative of every single sci-fi film ever made. At second glance, this is still true, but you notice something else: Despite its rip-offs (mostly of "Alien"), "Pitch Black" delivers not only on thrills a...
Boiler Room
"Boiler Room" is an intense, graphic, testosterone-laden, man's-man-type movie about ... stock brokers.
That's right, the weenies of the '80s (who are the idols of the people in this film) are the subject of this worthy first effort from new dire...
The Beach
"The Beach" has me stumped. I have this vague feeling that I liked it, but then I can think of a thousand reasons why I shouldn't have.
The film begins with Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) as a jaded American tourist in Bangkok. His voice-over narrat...
Snow Day
From the folks who brought us the offbeat "Pete and Pete" on Nickelodeon comes this tolerable, mostly harmless film about the magic of a "snow day" -- when Jack Frost causes the schools to close, bringing about a sudden, unexpected holiday on which, ...
The Tigger Movie
"The Tigger Movie" almost captures the same gentle spirit of whimsy and sweetness that the old Winnie the Pooh cartoons had, but not quite. But for a new generation of youngsters who haven't seen the old ones, this one will most certainly suffice.
...
Scream 3
The "Scream" trilogy ends with an installment not as good as the first but better than the second -- and still a darn fine movie that both parodies the teen-slasher genre, as well as being one itself.
This time around, Sidney (Neve Campbell, who ...
The Cup (Tibetan/Hindi)
If you're a big fan of comedies made in Bhutan (and who isn't?), you'll love "The Cup."
Otherwise, it's a pretty gentle, occasionally funny movie about a Tibetan monastery in India in which the teen-age monks are more interested in the World Cup ...
Eye of the Beholder
Ashley Judd seems to be making a career out of doing crappy thrillers. Admire her for picking a genre and sticking with it, I guess.
First there was the ridiculous "Double Jeopardy"; now it's the moody, incomprehensible "Eye of the Beholder," a f...
Isn’t She Great
"Isn't she great?" is what talent agent Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane) keeps saying about his client/wife Jacqueline Susann (Bette Midler), whenever she does something allegedly funny or outrageous. "Isn't she great?" he'll say, the ensuing "Eh? Eh?"...
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her
"Only a fool would speculate about the life of a woman."
So says Carol Farber (Cameron Diaz) just after speculating on the life of a woman -- specifically, why an old acquaintance of her sister, Kathy (Amy Brenneman), killed herself.
"Things ...
The Convent
You have to admire a movie in which two people, tied up and about to be offered as virgin sacrifices by devil-worshippers, consider having sex with each other just to make them ineligible for the sacrifice.
That sort of ingenuity appears occasion...
Dropping Out
"Dropping Out," itself a product of a media-saturated generation, is about what life is like for people who are products of a media-saturated generation.
In examining the banality of existence for members of Generation X, Mark Osborne's film pres...
Gigantic (German)
The German film "Gigantic," directed and written by Sebastian Schipper and produced by Tom Tykwer (who directed "Run Lola Run"), has the sort of world-weary, melancholy bleakness we've come to expect from that country, while at the same time infusing...
The Prompter (Norwegian)
The titular occupation in the Norwegian film "The Prompter" is the person at an opera who sits in that little box at the front of the stage, cuing the performers on their lines.
Siv (Hege Sch�yen) is a plain, 30-something woman who loves her jo...
Just, Melvin (documentary)
James Ronald Whitney's first film is a documentary about the cycle of incest and abuse in his family, a cycle started by his grandfather, Melvin Just. One admires Whitney and his family members for their bravery in telling their harrowing stories; on...
Play It to the Bone
The most interesting thing about "Play It to the Bone" is that the character named Cesar (Antonio Banderas) is sporting a Caesar haircut.
That's the sort of thing your mind comes up with when you realize the movie isn't going to entertain you, so...
