It would be so easy to titter and scoff at Shall We Dance?, a Miramaxed-out version of the 1996 Japanese film of the same name, which told of a... More>>
An island town will do anything to seduce Dr. Lewis.
By Jean Oppenheimer,
October 14, 2004
If the tiny Quebecois island of Sainte Marie-La Mauderne is any indication, Michael Moore was right: Canadians do not lock their front doors (an... More>>
Hanif Kureishi's new drama is like life, sharpened to its finest points
By Melissa Levine,
October 14, 2004
The first exceptional drama of 2004 is here, and it only took, what, six months? Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Mother comes from British writer... More>>
There are at least three movies contained within the covers of H.G. Bissinger's best-selling 1990 nonfiction book Friday Night Lights. One is... More>>
A pair of political pranksters invent the art of "identity correction"
By Melissa Levine,
October 07, 2004
Imagine it's a weekday morning, and you're at a trade conference in Finland. You're sleepy, maybe a little jet-lagged, as you prepare for the... More>>
Searching for the meaning of life in a movie that barely exists
By Robert Wilonsky,
October 07, 2004
Maybe it's the mark of a great film that it can affect an audience member even when he sleeps through the entire thing. Such was the case with my... More>>
There's not a lot of singing in Hilary Duff's new movie, but maybe that's a good thing
By Jean Oppenheimer,
October 07, 2004
Tweener fave Hilary Duff effortlessly maintains her wholesome image in Raise Your Voice, a coming-of-age drama (what else would you expect when... More>>
Shark Tale is an animated film, though after you see it you might wonder whether the term is intended as oxymoronic. Put simply, it has no life... More>>
Motorcycle Diaries explores Che Guevara's formative years
By Gregory Weinkauf,
September 30, 2004
Revolutionary idolatry is an odd business. Just ask unruly pop singer Stew, of the unruly pop group the Negro Problem. On his Naked Dutch Painter... More>>
The very best thing about A Dirty Shame, a giddy sex farce from John Waters, is the credits. What's not to love about a list of characters that... More>>
Python's Brian returns, bearing cinematic salvation
By Gregory Weinkauf,
September 23, 2004
In A.D. 2004, as the five remaining members of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe lie in coffins in a Vanity Fair spread to jeer at their... More>>
"Sheer gonzo aesthetics" save the day in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
By Gregory Weinkauf,
September 16, 2004
Fortune smiles on groovy egregiousness. In the case of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the filmmakers' investment in their weird visions... More>>
Silver City plants a shrub where it wants to dig up a Bush
By Robert Wilonsky,
September 16, 2004
Silver City is being marketed as a biting, bitter send-up of George W. Bush. Hence the copious use of trailer footage in which Chris Cooper, as... More>>
The sequel to Ghost in the Shell is a feast for the eyes, but a disappointment for the brain
By Luke Y. Thompson,
September 16, 2004
If Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence were a live-action sequel, there would be a lot of gossip about star histrionics, creative conflicts and so... More>>
The most crucial piece of equipment in Hollywood is obviously not the movie camera. It's not the casting couch. Not even the Rolls-Royce Silver... More>>
In Victorian England, 40,000 novels were published every year. Of the few that have endured, perhaps none is more worthy of a film adaptation... More>>
