Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

Drama Rated R

The story of a drug-dealing military clerk (Joaquin Phoenix) at a poorly disciplined U.S. base in 1989 West Germany, Buffalo Soldiers was long delayed out of fear it would be deemed too unpatriotic during wartime. If only it were unpatriotic – that would have been infinitely more interesting than the wishy-washy, morally skittish movie we

La Vie en Rose (2007)

Drama Rated PG-13

Marion Cotillard undergoes an amazing physical transformation to portray legendary French singer Edith Piaf. By the end, when alcohol and drug abuse have reduced Piaf’s body to wreckage, the young actress looks like Gollum. Emotionally, Cotillard portrays Piaf as a blunt instrument – not unlike her blaring voice, which can feel as if it’s literally

Chateau, The (2001)

Comedy Rated R

Another dumb, digitial-video exercise: It looks horrible, and the improvisatory, hand-held style only leads to pointless yammering. Paul Rudd and Romany Malco star as American mismatched brothers – the former is white and a slacker, the latter is black, all-business and adopted – who inherit a decrepit French chateau. Much forced comic banter and labored

Network (1976)

Drama Rated R

“Faye Dunaway devours this movie.”

Chelsea Walls (2001)

Drama Rated R

“…works overtime to prove its artistic bona fides.”

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2006)

Comedy Rated PG-13

If only literary theory could always be this fun. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is one of those classic novels that few people have actually read, but director Michael Winterbottom has made it entertaining enough to get me to actually consider reading it. Or maybe I’ll just see this witty “adaptation” again

Cinderella (1950)

Family Rated G

Many of Walt Disney Pictures’ animated fairy tales have come to be seen as definitive versions of the story they tell simply because they’ve been enjoyed by generation after generation. Yet it isn’t only longevity that gives them such classic status. As Cinderella reveals, Disney and his closest team of animators – dubbed by him

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (1998)

Drama Rated NR

This big-screen version of the cult Japanese television series takes its stylistic cue from its hero: a pathologically bored, futuristic bounty hunter who treats everyone as if he is a 15-year-old and they are his lame parents. That and the eclectic soundtrack lend an atmosphere of carefully cultivated cool to the otherwise familiar anime elements:

CSA: The Confederate States of America (2004)

Comedy Rated NR

A provocative if limited experiment, CSA purports to be a historical documentary – complete with alternative-universe commercial breaks – that encapsulates the history of the United States as if the Civil War had gone South. It’s a profane joke that doesn’t ruffle quite as many feathers as it should. At first, the shock of the

Decade Under the Influence, A (2003)

Documentary Rated R

An unabashed act of nostalgia, this film-buff documentary celebrates the movies of the 1970s as the pinnacle of American cinema. Co-directors Richard LaGravenese and Ted Demme bring a fan’s passion to the subject, along with a fan’s narrow perspective. The ’70s have long been cited as a turning point for American movies, a time of