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Category: archive

Syriana (2005)

Drama Rated R

I suppose if I created a flowchart of characters and devoted a few solid hours to it, I could make some sense out of the oil drama Syriana. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the urge to do any political-science homework since college (and even then the urge was faint). As another 2005 Message Movie featuring George

Duel (1971)

Thriller Rated PG

Steven Spielberg’s career hit its creative stride with this television movie. Essentially a 90-minute dissertation on the slight embarrassment of being passed on the open road, Duel follows a milquetoast businessman (Dennis Weaver) on a trip who is harassed and eventually hunted by the mysterious driver of a massive tanker truck. Weaver’s ironically named David

Terminal, The (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

Steven Spielberg’s penchant for sentimentality and narrative convention hold back The Terminal, yet the movie is far too much a flight of fancy to be kept completely grounded. Heaving a bulky accent but otherwise light on his feet, Tom Hanks plays an Eastern European traveler stranded in an American airport, resulting in a Kafkaesque piece

Easy Rider (1969)

Drama Rated R

A drug-addled drug movie about two bikers (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) who make their way across America – Hopper also directed – Easy Rider is, inevitably, a bit of a mess, with a loopy graveyard climax that feels like one of the first – and worst – music videos. Yet in its own laconic

Unfaithful (2002)

Drama Rated R

From its subtle early images – the sight of a little boy’s bicycle blowing over in the wind nicely foreshadows the upheaval of one family’s life – to its lovely and ambiguous final shot, this is a provocative sex thriller whose best moments are the least explicit ones. When a happy-enough housewife (Diane Lane) embarks

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Action/Adventure Rated R

One of Bruce Lee’s signature kung-fu flicks, Enter the Dragon features the actor/martial-arts expert at the height of his performing powers. Small and sinewy, Lee left the impression he didn’t have a muscle he didn’t need – and that he probably could kill you with any one of them. Much of the movie’s opening is

Excalibur (1981)

Action/Adventure Rated R

British director John Boorman approached the Arthurian legends with reverence and awe and came away with the passionate and mystical Excalibur. Boorman at one time wanted to film J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Excalibur occasionally shimmers with the same grandeur that director Peter Jackson accomplished in his adaptations. Both movies tap into

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Director J.J. Abrams tries to bring some emotional resonance to the franchise, which up until now had all the soulfulness of a microscopic tracking device. This time we find Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt engaged and out of the field, at least until the shenanigans of a super-villain (Philip Seymour Hoffman) force him back to action.

Captain Blood (1935)

Action/Adventure Rated NR

To get you ready for this weekend’s Errol Flynn festival at the Music Box, here’s another review of one of the swashbuckler’s best…

Bamboozled (2000)

Comedy Rated R

Another cinematic grenade from Spike Lee, this time aimed at those who perpetuate African-American stereotypes in the entertainment industry. Damon Wayans stars as a television producer who creates a modern-day minstrel show hoping to get fired. Instead, America goes into a craze for blackface. Outrageous? Yes, but it’s also a searing indictment of today’s misogynistic

Recent Reviews

Silkwood (1983)

Drama Rated R

“Streep is as loose as she’s ever been…”

Mother Mary (2026)

Drama Rated R

“A collage of religio-goth gestures…”

The Great Dictator (1940)

Comedy Rated G

“Charlie Chaplin was not messing around.”


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