Drama Rated R
"(Murray) erases any trace of his own comically morose persona and gives us a kind old uncle figure. Hardly a fair trade in my opinion."
Drama Rated PG-13
"…true to the awfulness of aging, yet Haneke also unveils a trait I didn’t previously associate with him: mercy."
Black Caesar – the blaxploitation era’s response to The Godfather, as well as an heir to the likes of ’30s gangster pictures The Public Enemy and Little Caesar – is bookended by two savage beatings, both endured by the movie’s title antihero. “Paid the cost to be the boss,” declares James Brown on the soundtrack,
"…a clever-enough idea – ratty criminal enterprise as the American economy in miniature – but the movie hammers its theme home, repeatedly."
Nearly every frame of Shaft is intent on doing one thing: establishing its hero – private detective John Shaft – as a powerful, independent, innately good yet still devilish man in complete control of his own destiny. How does this differ from the many screen heroes who came before? Well, Shaft is black. And this
A wolf in pimp’s clothing. Super Fly is a movie of surprising political bite and emotional nuance, considering it is usually discussed in terms of its outrageously flashy cars and clothes. The outfits are something – in his patterned, full-length jackets, star Ron O’Neal often looks like he’s wrapped up in a carpet – but
"…not the volcanic Day-Lewis we’ve come to expect, but a worn, weary version of him. It’s Day-Lewis covered in volcanic ash."
There’s no getting around the fact that Johnson is disastrous.
Drama Rated PG
"Visually, thematically, intellectually – there is nothing sharp about this picture."
"…recalls the screwball psychiatry of Russell’s earlier efforts, only this time the farce has heart."
