Deja Vu (2006)

Thriller Rated PG-13

Deja Vu may be the first Tony Scott movie that makes you itchy in a good way. The director of Domino, Enemy of the State and Spy Game, Scott has become the definitive ADD filmmaker. But his style is fitting for this thriller, in which the past and the present overlap (Denzel Washington plays the

American Pie 2 (2001)

Comedy Rated R

Yes, the raunchy sex gags return as the four high-school buddies from the original film reunite after their first year at college, but thankfully so does the self-deprecating honesty that made American Pie an oddly touching teen flick. There’s plenty of titillation here, but also a surprisingly mature recognition that casual sex may not be

Derailed (2005)

Thriller Rated R

Derailed belongs to the long movie tradition in which a basically good man makes a moral misstep that leads to his complete undoing, yet I can’t think of another movie morality play that details the undoing to such a ludicrous degree. A dependable if distracted husband and father (Clive Owen) begins an affair with a

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006)

Musical Rated R

Jack Black and Kyle Gass’ jokey death-metal band is at once a spoof of rock music’s deranged theatrics and a chance for the pair to revel in those theatrics. These guys are very funny, but I have a feeling that deep down they wouldn’t mind if you took them seriously. Thankfully, there is very little

Flightplan (2005)

Thriller Rated PG-13

Perhaps the high altitude explains why, after Red Eye, this is yet another ludicrously plotted 2005 airplane thriller. Just thinking about that thin air must mess with screenwriters’ heads. Flightplan – with Jodie Foster as a grieving widow whose daughter may or may not have been kidnapped mid-flight – is the far better picture because

Seven (1995)

Horror Rated R

What struck me as a heinous thriller in 1995 now seems – in the wake of a rash of explicit, torture-driven horror flicks – like something that verges on restraint. Then again, maybe this is just a demonstration of how subtle chills are more effective in the end. The details of the serial killer’s crimes

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Musical Rated G

A celebration of life as one big pop song, the Beatles’ 1964 musical farce opens with the famous image of the band being chased down the street by a mob of screaming girls and barely slows down from there. Director Richard Lester’s near-revolutionary visuals also framed a prescient commentary on the age of celebrity the

Ali (2001)

Drama Rated R

Director Michael Mann (The Insider) takes a revolutionary approach to the biography genre, presenting Muhammad Ali’s boxing career as a series of subjective memories rather than a step-by-step chronological document. If Ali’s life flashed before his eyes, it might look something like this. Will Smith is dead-on as Ali and the unconventional approach elevates what

High Fidelity (2000)

Romantic Comedy Rated R

A grimy, funny and realistic look at romance – specifically the failed relationships of a record store owner played by John Cusack. The settings in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood are dead-on, as is the messy, complicated depiction of love. In other words, you might not come out of this with your heart fluttering, but you’ll

Aliens of the Deep (2005)

Documentary Rated G

Another documentary detour for director James Cameron, this time a 3-D Imax venture to discover signs of life on the ocean floor. Aside from a few shots of ghostly sea creatures, Aliens of the Deep is a pointless bore. Cameron, who directed along with Steven Quale, has assembled a crew of marine biologists, geologists and