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(05/02/05 6:00am)
Before martial arts films became associated with art-house
prestige ?? la \Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" and Zhang Yimou's
2004 one-two punch with ""Hero"" and ""House of Flying Daggers,"" a
good kung fu flick was like a good porn-the draw is the action, not
the story.
(04/26/05 6:00am)
The pitch sessions for Ashton Kutcher movies must be more
interesting than the unfailingly generic films themselves.
(04/19/05 6:00am)
A reliable way for an esteemed director to prove his or her
versatility is the 180 degree turn; sheer talent alone can only
carry a career so far. Veterans notable for a distinct tendency
suddenly shun it dramatically and flamboyantly refute any potential
one-trick pony criticism.
(04/11/05 6:00am)
Do you realize that the best Indiana Jones surrogate seen in
recent years is Brendan Fraser? Let's just ponder the ramifications
of that for a moment.
(04/08/05 6:00am)
Alcoholism has been depicted on the silver screen innumerable
times, but is rarely handled the same way twice.
(04/06/05 6:00am)
Updating a work of classic literature into a modern setting has
proven a tricky endeavor. The '90s have seen mottled incarnations
of everything from a gun-wielding \Hamlet"" to Alicia's
Silverstone's version of Emma in ""Clueless.""
(04/05/05 6:00am)
Documentary filmmakers seek a child's perception because it
enhances the authenticity and accessibility of nearly any
spotlighted subject matter. Children of every culture are
incorrigibly innocent, and are thus perfectly willing to question
circumstances and harbor a sense of hope for the future.
(03/31/05 6:00am)
A well-worn but dependable maxim frequently cited by Roger Ebert
is that the most effective way to critique a film is to make
another, better one. Coming appropriately from Fran??ois Truffaut,
a leading director in the French New Wave and originator of the
auteur theory who started out writing passionate film reviews, this
has been constantly proven true.
(03/15/05 6:00am)
Critical consensus and popular preference in film occasionally
converge when a genuine crowd-pleaser attracts the collective fancy
of cinephiles and casual moviegoers alike. In 2004, \Spider-Man 2""
and ""The Incredibles,"" two of the year's highest-grossing
moneymakers, appealed to and satisfied the tastes of nearly
everybody. These were examples of popular cinema being helmed not
by uninspired Tinseltown hacks, but passionate filmmakers seeking
to transcend their genre while espousing exuberant independent
spirit.
(03/14/05 6:00am)
A film with the nerve to take a stance on an issue is certainly
difficult to find these days. Often Hollywood films will choose to
address one of the day's hot topics by putting it in the background
of a traditional plot, such as a love story or mystery, instead of
placing the issue in the forefront. \The Gatekeeper,"" director
John Carlos Frey's feature film debut, is a truly independent labor
of love that unapologetically puts emphasis on the issue at hand
instead of shoehorning it into a supporting role.
(03/03/05 6:00am)
The theatrical trailer for Pedro Almodovar's latest film \Bad
Education"" is remarkably brief but uniquely enigmatic and fitting.
The pulsating Bernard Herrmann-esque score is accompanied by the
customary black-and-white praise from the nation's top critics, and
then a startlingly rapid succession of images from pivotal moments
in the film. ""Bad Education"" is above all, despite its frequent
flouting of genre conventions, a mystery in which the lack of
information is part of the fun; a mysterious, concise preview
offering a teasing glimpse but certainly no revelation is a perfect
advertisement for such a film. In an age where trailers are often
little more than highlight reels giving away the entire film
(""Cast Away"" and ""The Truman Show"" are two such excellent films
which nonetheless had their surprise factors spoiled by misguided
ad campaigns), the relative secrecy surrounding ""Bad Education""
is an example that the wise will follow.
(02/21/05 6:00am)
Following the recent release of the Oscar-nominated \Kinsey,""
the incendiary topic of sexual insecurity in America is fresh in
moviegoers' minds. Bill Condon's biopic of 1950s sex researcher
Alfred Kinsey and his controversial findings is an illuminating
film, bountiful with insight and congenial humor, that intends to
spark truly constructive debate about what constitutes a healthy
attitude toward sexuality. After Kinsey's nookie surveys and the
free love '60s, the sexual debate was further inflamed by the
emergence of an inherently crappy, infamous cheapie porno called
""Deep Throat."" In their superb, scintillating new documentary
""Inside Deep Throat,"" writer-directors Fenton Bailey and Randy
Barbato take a probing look at the making of, varied reactions to
and ultimately tragic long-term consequences of the little porn
that could.
(02/15/05 6:00am)
Shainee Gabel's leaden debut \A Love Song for Bobby Long"" opens
with a scruffy, downtrodden John Travolta shuffling drunk around
New Orleans after an afternoon at the bars, accompanied by an
exceptionally moody blues song. When the song wanes, a perpetually
nondescript voiceover intones, ""Time was never kind to Bobby
Long,"" before launching into florid yet clumsy exposition. Rather
than providing a useful introduction to a woeful Southern gothic
tale, this opening line calls more attention to Travolta and his
latest showboat of a performance.
(02/09/05 6:00am)
The new documentary \Overnight"" displays the brief rise and
fall of the egomaniacal filmmaker Troy Duffy, the man behind 1999's
hit ""The Boondock Saints.""
(02/03/05 6:00am)
Most audiences regard film as a purely escapist medium and
venture out to multiplexes week after week seeking distraction from
the ubiquitous stress of everyday life. Also, the most eminently
popular films tend to paint with broad strokes and center on
dependable characters with whom one can relate; audiences gravitate
toward movies in which the conflict is familiar and the moral
complications are simplistic.
(01/26/05 6:00am)
The indisputable similarities between Samuel Bicke, the
protagonist in Niels Mueller's debut feature \The Assassination of
Richard Nixon,"" and the iconic Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's
landmark ""Taxi Driver"" have stimulated a unique debate about the
former film's purpose.
(01/25/05 6:00am)
Three of the most visually appealing films in the past
decade-Ang Lee's \Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" and Zhang
Yimou's ""Hero"" and ""House of Flying Daggers""-are the benchmark
efforts in a relatively new genre known as the sensitive wire-fu
action extravaganza.
(01/20/05 6:00am)
One of the myriad throwaway bits in Steven Soderbergh's
underwhelming \Ocean's Twelve"" involved a humorously
self-conscious cameo by Topher Grace, in which he confessed to
""walking through that Dennis Quaid movie."" That sly in-joke is
particularly ironic considering that ""In Good Company,"" the
wonderful new film from Paul and Chris Weitz of ""American Pie""
and ""About a Boy"" fame, is anchored by a charming, possibly
breakthrough performance from Grace which is anything but a
walkthrough. ""In Good Company"" deftly weaves the wit of a cynic
with a non-intrusive sense of cheeriness evident in a decent
Cameron Crowe movie, and ends up being naturally uplifting without
sidestepping realism.
(12/06/04 6:00am)
The vast majority of legendary director Mike Nichols' films
explore the nuances of relationships and sexual behavior, from
1966's \Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"" to his recent HBO work
(""Angels in America,"" ""Wit""). Hell, even ""What Planet Are You
From?"" used Garry Shandling's humming alien penis to shed some
insight on the tricky nature of relationships So it comes as no
surprise that his latest is another seriocomic look at the trials
and tribulations of love. But ""Closer,"" the star-studded
adaptation of Patrick Marber's controversial play, is a forceful,
incisive dramedy akin to a Neil LaBute movie without the stilted
dialogue; it is a piercing, vibrant piece of work that is one of
this year's most notable cinematic accomplishments.
(12/02/04 6:00am)
Filmed adaptations of literature will always be held to a higher
degree of scrutiny than an original piece of work, since what works
on the page often does not translate efficiently to the screen.
Filmmakers perpetually face the dilemma of how to solve the
trade-off between faithfulness to the text and the omission or
addition of material that will cater to traditional cinematic
strengths.