Email Author Robert Wilonsky

2006 Stories by Robert Wilonsky

• Juices Flowing

  published December 28, 2006

  Jackass Number Two: Unrated (Paramount) The sequel to the dumb-ass jamboree makes its predecessor look plain and... More >>

• Like Herding Sheep

  published December 21, 2006

  It took Norman Mailer seven years and 1,282 pages to write 1991's Harlot's Ghost: A Novel of the CIA, and, if memory serves, it took me 12... More >>

• A True Horror Classic

  published December 21, 2006

  When the Levees Broke (HBO) Spike Lee's four-part doc, easily the best non-fiction film of 2006, gets a fifth part on... More >>

• Willie Nelson

  published December 14, 2006

  This doesn't sound like a Willie Nelson record, and it doesn't sound like a Ryan Adams record (though he produced it). We don't know what it... More >>

• Rich Man, Poor Man

  published December 14, 2006

  About Will Smith's estimable talents, there is no doubt. Six Degrees of Separation, Ali . . . um . . . the "Parents Just Don't... More >>

• Farce of a Champion

  published December 14, 2006

  Talladega Nights (Columbia) This cut of Will Ferrell's NASCAR comedy runs 13 minutes longer than the theatrical version,... More >>

• A Masterpiece on Canvas

  published December 7, 2006

  Rocky: 2-Disc Collector's Edition (MGM) An old TV commercial for Rocky included here compares Sylvester Stallone... More >>

• Extra! Read All About It

  published November 30, 2006

  Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (Warner Bros.) At long last, Richard Donner's much-whispered-about "original... More >>

• One Toke Wonder

  published November 23, 2006

  The first few minutes of Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny are something to behold: a four-minute rock opera cranked to 11. A doughy young... More >>

• Bad News With Al

  published November 23, 2006

  An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount) This isn't exactly the kind of DVD you buy to watch again and again; the ending... More >>

• Tom Waits

  published November 16, 2006

  Wherein Tom Waits cleans out the closet, holds a garage sale and finds the crowd begging for more, more, more. Hence the 26... More >>

• Royale Flush

  published November 16, 2006

  By all rights, 2002's Die Another Day should have been and could have been the final James Bond film. It was packaged like a cynical, weary... More >>

• When the Stars Came Out

  published November 16, 2006

  Forbidden Planet (Warner Bros.) Long available as faded discount product, Fred McLeod Wilcox's 1956 masterpiece -- the... More >>

• Burning the Yule Log

  published November 9, 2006

  The Junky's Christmas (Koch) They just aren't cranking out clay animation Christmas specials like they used to, which... More >>

• Impossibly Passable

  published November 2, 2006

  Mission: Impossible III: Special Edition (Paramount) On the commentary track, director J.J. Abrams and star Tom Cruise sound... More >>

• History Lessons

  published October 26, 2006

  There's a scene about halfway through Catch a Fire during which freedom fighters — men and women, each boasting such nicknames as... More >>

• These Dogs Still Hunt

  published October 26, 2006

  Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary (Lions Gate) Quentin Tarantino's first film shows its age these days, mostly because... More >>

• Took a Shot

  published October 19, 2006

  American Dreamz (Universal) Till this, Paul Weitz had a stellar filmography, a career in ascension: American Pie... More >>

• Repeat Offender

  published October 12, 2006

  There is no way of sidestepping the issue, so why not jump right into it: Infamous, this year's retelling of how Truman Capote wound up in... More >>

• Voter Fraud

  published October 12, 2006

  Barry Levinson hasn't made a movie of note in almost a decade — since 1997's Wag the Dog, to be precise, and even that was less a work... More >>

• The Delightful Dud

  published October 12, 2006

  A Prairie Home Companion (New Line) This all-star sing-along -- with Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Tommy Lee Jones,... More >>

• Lewis Blows His Top

  published October 5, 2006

  Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed (HBO) Like many other Daily Show success stories, Lewis Black is a comedian... More >>

• Men Behaving Badly

  published September 28, 2006

  One would never confuse the work of writer-director Todd Phillips with that of the late Robert Hamer, whose filmography includes the essential... More >>

• Poetry and Puncture Wounds

  published September 21, 2006

  The Proposition (First Look) There's an old saying about Ginger Rogers, who did everything Fred Astaire did -- but... More >>

• Hooked on Hookers

  published September 14, 2006

  I Am a Sex Addict (IFC) Caveh Zahedi has made a movie of our times -- a strange mix of self-absorption, shamelessness in... More >>