In Good Company (2004)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Dennis Quaid stars as Dan Foreman, an ad salesman whose new, 26-year-old boss (Topher Grace) takes an interest in his daughter (Scarlett Johansson). This may sound like a wacky farce, but the sly twist of this knowing comedy from director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) is the way Dan’s practical, workmanlike personality guides him through

Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
The Beginning, The (2006)

Horror Rated R

Another attempt to wring money out of the bloody horror franchise. The Beginning purports to tell the back story of Leatherface, the chainsaw-wielding psychopath of the 32-year series, but that’s mostly a marketing gimmick. Yes, Leatherface had an unhappy childhood, but most of it is dispensed with over the opening credits. Then it’s on to

Fountain, The (2006)

Drama Rated PG-13

A tantalizing triptych from writer-director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), The Fountain stars Hugh Jackman as three different men, each of whom is chasing some variation on the fountain of youth: a 16th-century conquistador; a contemporary scientist; and a 26th-century cosmonaut. Aronofsky speeds back and forth across centuries with the virtuosity of 2001-era Stanley

Shrek the Third (2007)

Family Rated PG

“The Shrek pictures are commonly considered fairy-tale spoofs, but these are reinventions, really…

Hustle & Flow (2005)

Drama Rated R

I have to believe that Hustle & Flow, which was picked up by Paramount Classics at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, was subjected to some heavy meddling on the way to mainstream theaters. I can’t remember another movie that started out so confidently, so utterly sure of its own swagger, and then limped so erratically

Rent (2005)

Musical Rated PG-13

“Why is it that struggling artists who sing, paint, or write about their struggles usually seem to produce the worst art?”

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Drama Rated PG

Scorsese’s fourth feature and his modern tribute, in a sense, to the classic Hollywood women’s picture. Scorsese has always been a film lover first and a filmmaker second, and so it’s appropriate that Alice opens with a striking visual homage to the likes of Gone with the Wind. Florid titles, elegant camerawork and a Technicolor

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Drama Rated R

A stunning, stylistic depiction of addiction in which a son (Jared Leto) and his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) succumb to heroin and cocaine while his mother (a staggering Ellyn Burstyn) gets hooked on diet pills in a desperate attempt to lose weight. Writer-director Darren Aronofsky (Pi) has developed a cinematic shorthand of quick edits and frantic

Blue Car (2002)

Drama Rated NR

Blue Car has a firm grip on its lead character – a troubled high-school English student, played with spot-on sullenness by Agnes Bruckner – but it isn’t quite sure how to handle the rest of its players. The movie is an ensemble piece when its true calling is to be a character study. This is

Secret Window (2004)

Thriller Rated PG-13

The secret of Secret Window becomes obvious fairly early, so thankfully there’s one thing more crucial to the movie: Johnny Depp. Depp has become more squirrelly as he’s aged, and as a mystery writer tormented by a mysterious stranger (John Turturro), he brings unpredictability to the screen without ever stepping outside of the story. The