'Tis the season and all that jive; beneath the tree this first week of November you will find two films set during the final week of December,... More>>
Pieces of April's story of a family falling apart to come together is no turkey
By Robert Wilonsky,
November 06, 2003
Pieces of April, made by playwright turned novelist turned screenwriter turned director Peter Hedges, could be confused for a compendium reel of... More>>
Richard Curtis is in Love with love, so what's new?
By Robert Wilonsky,
November 06, 2003
With its soundtrack stockpiled with songs of romance and Christmas and a screenplay by the man who wrote Bridget Jones's Diary, Four Weddings and... More>>
Jane Campion guides Meg Ryan through a stunning career transformation In the Cut
By Gregory Weinkauf,
October 30, 2003
Remember that silly little-girl version of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally . . . , snuffling "I'm difficult!" through a charming tantrum? Well,... More>>
One man’s deceptions help to highlight our own flaws in The Human Stain
By Bill Gallo,
October 30, 2003
The riddles of identity that drive and disturb Philip Roth's impressive body of fiction usually focus on contemporary Jewish characters whose... More>>
Alien returns revised and remains bloody brilliant
By Gregory Weinkauf,
October 30, 2003
Some movies approach perfection. Alien: The Director's Cut basically enhances a 99.9 percent perfect movie from 1979 with some digital polishing,... More>>
Christine Jeffs and Gwyneth Paltrow imbue Sylvia Plath with new life . . . uh, and death
By Gregory Weinkauf,
October 23, 2003
Sometimes something so wonderful appears on the big screen that I want to leap up like a shameless non-professional and hug it. Such is the case... More>>
Brutality and romance make odd bedfellows in Beyond Borders
By Luke Y. Thompson,
October 23, 2003
Given the way the United Nations has been taking a beating in the American media over the past year or so, it may not be a bad thing that the new... More>>
That a new feel-good sports movie called Radio contrives to move us is just fine -- that's what feel-good sports movies are supposed to do. That... More>>
Eastwood takes a guilt trip down the mighty Mystic River
By Robert Wilonsky,
October 16, 2003
Dave, a man who's barely there, lulls his son to sleep with stories of a boy lost in the woods who escapes from wolves; it's a thrilling bedtime... More>>
A slick remake of a barelyfictionalized biopic renders Irish reporter Guerin's story as Hollywood truth.
By Gregory Weinkauf,
October 16, 2003
Veronica Guerin isn't at all a bad movie, and some kind things will be said about it here. But cynical appraisal also has its place, so we'll... More>>
Despite many strong stars, this Grisham adaptation amounts to squat
By Luke Y. Thompson,
October 16, 2003
Watching Hollywood's endless stream of John Grisham adaptations -- The Firm, The Chamber, A Time to Kill, etc. -- it would be easy to assume that... More>>
Having already produced a book (Disco Bloodbath) and directed a "shockumentary" (Party Monster) about the "Club Kids" scene that rose brightly... More>>
The teacher, not the teaching, makes this School of Rock
By Robert Wilonsky,
October 02, 2003
D irector Richard Linklater's School of Rock imagines, sort of, what might have become of voluble rock snob Barry the morning after his grand... More>>
Scott Baio reawakens his heritage in The Bread, My Sweet
By Bill Gallo,
October 02, 2003
If your name ends in a vowel and your people came over in steerage a hundred years ago, you will almost certainly find yourself in the kitchen... More>>
Between The Rock and a hard place, The Rundown isn't so bad
By Robert Wilonsky,
September 25, 2003
The script for The Rundown has lingered for more than a decade and was originally a Patrick Swayze vehicle, well before those wheels fell off.... More>>
Lions tames Duvall and Caine with feel-good corn pone
By Robert Wilonsky,
September 18, 2003
Secondhand Lions is cornier than the cornfields spread out in front of the dilapidated rural Texas manse inhabited by Robert Duvall and Michael... More>>
