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

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

That Hollywood staple – the undercover cop picture – gets an Asian spin with Infernal Affairs, an import that elevates such genre concerns to the near-mythic. The sinuous story pits a cop posing as a gangster (Tony Leung, Hero) against a mole in the police department (Andy Lau, House of Flying Daggers). Their taciturn showdowns

All About the Benjamins (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Stars Ice Cube and Mike Epps – playing a bounty hunter and a con man, respectively, who partner to thwart a diamond heist – riff on familiar genre notes here with the skills of a polished comic team. Their spirited chemistry turns what could have been another contemporary blaxploitation picture into a guilty pleasure you

Johnny English (2003)

Comedy Rated PG

I admire British comedian Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) for reviving the nearly silent, slapstick-heavy style of early greats such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. I just wish he was good at it. Johnny English, a disposable spy spoof, has a few decent gags, but even those are hampered by laborious setups and a thudding

All the Pretty Horses (2000)

Drama Rated PG-13

There sure are some beautiful vistas in this romantic Western, but they only allow you to see the movie’s laborious cliches more clearly. Clumsily adapted by director Billy Bob Thornton from Cormac McCarthy’s best-selling novel, the movie follows a young Texan (Matt Damon) who falls for the daughter (Penelope Cruz) of a wealthy rancher in

Kinsey (2004)

Drama Rated R

In its rush to enshrine its scientist subject (Liam Neeson), Kinsey essentially becomes a piece of science itself: clinical, methodical, emotionally detached. The movies, however, involve other things – feelings, for one – and the main failing of writer-director Bill Condon’s film is that it’s afraid to fully consider what effect the man’s academic approach