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I know I'm going to get mail about my five-star rating for this movie, but it cannot be helped. One summer when I was a kid, a friend and I... read review »
One of the subjects of the film, David Friedman, is a birthday clown here in NYC and was profiled by Susan Orlean in the New Yorker a few years ago.... read review »
The trailer included on the DVD looks strikingly contemporary (pounding music, hundreds of cuts, very MTV) and must have been every bit as jarring** as the film to watch in... read review »
It's only March but I feel safe in saying that this Charlie Kaufman/Michel Gondry collaboration is the most creative film of the year. What's even more remarkable than me making... read review »
After getting an email from a reader last week (thx, david), I poked around a little and found the cult French film La Jetée on Google Video: The above contains... read review »
Sorry Sofia, but seeing ROTK was the best time I've had at the movies in a long, long time. I can't say if this is the year's best film or... read review »
Best film I've seen in the theatre in ages. Bill Murray is a comedic genius; the scene with the elliptical trainer had my eyes watering and my pants wetting.... read review »
I have a theory about this movie. Every time I tell my theory to someone, they cough uncomfortably and roll their eyes as soon as they're out of my sight.... read review »
You think you know what's going on in this (very**) indie film, you've caught yourself up, and then Primer just throws another curve ball at you. Even without the time... read review »
I didn't realize how much the recent two Star Wars movies had sullied my once-fond memories of the first three films until I sat down to watch the original Star... read review »
I know it's kind of pointless to review some of the most re/viewed movies in history, but I'm working my way through the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD and... read review »
Highly recommended documentary by Errol Morris about Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Now in his 80s, McNamara shares frankly what is hinted at as the... read review »
Try as I might, I can't recognize Al Pacino in the first two Godfather films. I look at Michael Corleone and the closest I can get to a recognizable Hollywood... read review »
Talking about it afterwards, a friend remarked, "I bet way more people in the US would go see this if they knew it was about Princess Diana". It is and... read review »
This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and I recommend it unequivocally. One of the most amazing things about Touching the Void (among many... read review »
Wall-E was wonderful...best new film I've seen in a long time. With it, Andrew Stanton joins Brad Bird in Pixar's top tier of directors, with the much-heralded John Lasseter in... read review »
In the 1960s, a young Al Gore had the good fortune to study under Roger Revelle at Harvard University. Revelle was one of the first scientists to claim that the... read review »
They don't make 'em like they used to. Sort of. According to Wikipedia, there are seven different versions of Blade Runner, from a 113-minute workprint version shown to test audiences... read review »
First of all, where did this movie come from? When a reader recommended it to me last week, I'd never heard of it before...I thought he was talking about the... read review »
According to IFC, the word "fuck" and its derivatives was uttered 138 times during the course of the film.... read review »
Like many movies I enjoy, Good Bye, Lenin doesn't fit neatly into any particular genre. It's billed as a comedy, but could easily be considered a drama or even a... read review »
The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year." (source)... read review »
If you need a reminder of Harrison Ford's ability to play Indiana Jones after nearly 20 years on the shelf, it comes in the movie's opening scene. Indy is roughly... read review »
This film answers the question, "what if you took a guy who grew up watching kung-fu films and gave him $60 million to make his own kung-fu film?"... read review »
Die Hard 4 might be the perfect summer entertainment. I couldn't believe how much fun this movie was...we wanted to go again as soon as we got out.... read review »
As far as I'm concerned, Will Ferrell et al., Jon Stewart, or the Farrelly brothers have nothing on Jane Austen when it comes to humor (or would that be humour?).... read review »
Action films tend not to age well. Raiders is a happy exception. Expertly paced, a trait not shared by many contemporary films, action or otherwise.... read review »
With its latest film, Pixar manages to achieve something that few other big Hollywood films do these days: a convincing reality. The body language & emotions of the characters, the... read review »
In a recent NY Times article, A.O. Scott calls Sideways the most overrated film of the year. He allows it's "well written and flawlessly acted, funny and observant" but feels... read review »
Somehow this 90-minute film isn't just about the National Spelling Bee and eight of its contestants, it also manages to fit in a great deal about what it means to... read review »
Warning: there are some major spoilers in here if you haven't seen it yet. As a life-long Star Wars fan (but not fanatic), I flat out loved Revenge of the... read review »
In his review of Syriana, Ebert calls it a "hyperlink movie" [warning, some spoilers]: A recent blog item coined a term like "hyperlink movie" to describe plots like this. (I... read review »
The Darjeeling Limited is the first Wes Anderson movie since Rushmore that I've really liked after seeing it for the first time. The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic both... read review »
The Incredibles is just a flat-out fun movie. Tons of laughs, some nice family moments, and lots of explosions and cool stunts (although the latter were somewhat subdued because of... read review »
I'm such a sucker for slo-mo, especially when Wes Anderson does it. Gets me every time. That scene where Margo gets off the bus to pick up Baumer at the... read review »
This is a wonderfully stylish, inventive film. If you're unaccustomed to movies lacking a strong narrative that drags the viewer through the film, you may want to skip it (the... read review »
Daniel Day-Lewis is flat-out amazing in this film; I can't think of when I've seen a better performance. But with this movie and No Country For Old Men, both of... read review »
This is the best movie I've ever seen that I never want to see again.... read review »
Reminded me of Run Lola Run (and Amelie, says Meg) in how the filmmakers were interested in the stories tangential (and seemingly incidental) to the main narrative. The side stories... read review »
Meg woke up at 1:30am the night we saw Zodiac, unable to sleep because she couldn't get a stabbing from the movie out of her head. To get back to... read review »
During the conference Xerxes sent a man of horseback to ascertain the strength of the Greek force and to observe what the troops were doing. He had heard before he... read review »
It's been a few weeks since I saw the movie, but I still can't get the Rhubarb Pie song out of my head: But one little thing can revive a... read review »
What can I say about this film that hasn't been said (by me) before? Nothing.... read review »
Still good, but it doesn't hold up quite as well as some of the other films released that year.... read review »
Wes Anderson's first film isn't as polished and elaborate as Rushmore or Royal Tenenbaums, and that's a good thing. It would be nice to see Anderson do another stripped-down film... read review »
Trolling around the Web for reviews of Gus Van Sant's rumination on Columbine, I came across this anecdote from Roger Ebert: Let me tell you a story. The day after... read review »
What struck me most about this film was not how mature and immature the girls were but how, as I said on the way out of the theatre, "our country... read review »
People, myself included, like to lament the lack of media choices in a production environment dominated by large multinational corporations, but the truth is that with a little access and... read review »
Perhaps the highest praise I can offer for Helvetica comes courtesy of Meg, who was snickering on the way into the theater about going to see a movie about a... read review »
An absolutely beautiful film by the director of Raise the Red Lantern; I felt as though I were watching a lavishly produced ballet instead of a movie. If you're heading... read review »
This is a movie that looks like a home run but ends up being a mishit single just over the shortstop into shallow left field. The concept is fantastic --... read review »
Like Gigli, Jersey Girl suffered unfairly at the box office because of the whole Bennifer thing. I liked a couple of Kevin Smith's previous films but the poor acting always... read review »
[Warning: there's some spoilers in here.] I don't really know what to make of Peter Jackson's King Kong. On the one hand, it's a fantastic movie, a huge blockbuster, chock... read review »
If only Peter Jackson could have found a way to make the LOTR book trilogy into four 2h45m movies instead of three. I just finished watching the Two Towers extended... read review »
This French film[1] is one of those movies that comes along once or twice a year and has Hollywood scratching its head as to why it's so popular and where... read review »
Surprisingly good. I've been told the books on which the film is based are meticulous in adhering to historical accuracy w.r.t. what it was like serving aboard a naval ship... read review »
We checked out the critically acclaimed Me and You and Everyone We Know (blog) on the opening weekend of the IFC Center here in NYC. The Center occupies the former... read review »
Count me among those that scoffed when I heard a movie was being made of the Miami Vice TV series. The lesson: don't doubt Michael Mann. Not to mention Vice's... read review »
I like Tilda Swinton and all, but her performance in Michael Clayton receiving awards bugs me. She was the only prominent woman character in the movie and was the only... read review »
Finally settled in to watch Microcosmos last week after Tivoing it several weeks ago. James Berardinelli sums up how I felt about the film pretty well (4 1/2 stars at... read review »
After recommendations from a couple of readers, I checked out Millions a couple of weeks ago. The film was directed by Danny Boyle, who did Trainspotting and 28 Days Later,... read review »
No Man's Land is a French film about the Bosnian War. Slight correction: it's a comedy about the Bosnian War. The film reminded me a bit of Dr. Strangelove with... read review »
Or as I now like to call it, Ocean's Ten. (Also, I like Don Cheadle a lot, but I just don't find him plausible as either his nutball former boxer... read review »
Forget for a moment that this is just another Adam Sandler movie where he plays a dorky guy who gets angry at inappropriate moments and smashes things. Actually, scratch that...Sandler's... read review »
Now showing on HBO: On March 11, 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with the following counts: furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, committing a... read review »
When I telephoned to see if he wanted to go, a friend warned me off Sin City. But since both Metacritic and Ebert (who has tastes similar to mine) gave... read review »
Considering how much I didn't like the first one, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed the sequel. Still a few cheesy bits (the laughing mask needs to... read review »
To be honest, I was a little disappointed in Standard Operating Procedure...but the fault is my own, not the film's. My expectation was that the film would start with the... read review »
Finally got around to seeing this documentary and loved it...but wanted to love it even more. There's so much going these days in relation to America's relationship with food: the... read review »
There's a bit of a shout-out to citizen journalism in Superman Returns. Mid-movie, Daily Planet Editor in Chief White, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen look at some photos of Superman... read review »
The main character and narrator initially spent $218 making this film on his Mac and ended up with something that is remarkably sharp and almost professional, considering he used iMovie... read review »
When I first saw the trailer for this movie several months ago, I thought it would suck for sure. Surprisingly, it did not. Not at all actually. DiCaprio continues to... read review »
Having lived in San Francisco, I've walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and driven across it countless times. The bridge is a nearly perfect metaphor for what some people go... read review »
The story of Hollywood mogul Robert Evans is reason enough to tune into this film, but the on-the-cheap special effects are notable as well. The primary effect -- building on... read review »
It's difficult to watch an animated movie these days and not compare it to Pixar's recent efforts. I've all but given up on Dreamworks...they've drawn their line in the sand... read review »
The comedic quintet of Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Ben Stiller may have finally found their optimum configuration in Wedding Crashers. I can't really watch anything... read review »
Keisha Castle-Hughes gives the best performance I've ever seen from a child actor. Her tearful speech near the end of the film was amazing for an actor of any age.... read review »
Guest's latest mockumentary is probably the strongest film of the bunch that includes Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap, and Waiting for Guffman. A Mighty Wind tells the tale... read review »
If it's wrong of me as a 29yo man to lust after Keira Knightly, I don't wanna be right.... read review »
I enjoy movies based on real-life events because of the post-movie Google/Wikipedia binge. You start at the Wikipedia page for the movie in question and work your way out from... read review »
Photograph of Sitting Bull by D.F. Barry, 1885.... read review »
[Warning, might be some spoilers.] Cars was perfect. The problem is that it was a little too perfect. After seeing the movie on Friday, Meg and I came up with... read review »
A really fun movie, even better the second time around (I completely wasn't paying attention the first time around...I missed most of the abandonment, sense-of-belonging, father/son, etc. stuff in the... read review »
This isn't the most interesting or insightful documentary I've seen, but comedians can't help being funny.... read review »
This one's not holding up as well as one would think. The first time I saw it, in the theater in 1999, my reaction was "eh". The second time, on... read review »
Garden State is probably one of those movies that gets better with a second viewing. I liked it alright the first time, enough that I'm willing to give it that... read review »
Aside from William Shatner playing himself in Free Enterprise, Neil Patrick Harris's small part in this movie is probably the greatest celebrity cameo in the history of film. I also... read review »
Manufactured Landscapes opens with an eight-minute tracking shot of a gigantic factory in China, the camera moving past row after row of workers assembling widgets until you feel like the... read review »
McLibel is the story of two Londoners fighting a libel lawsuit that the McDonald's hamburger people brought against them in English court. Without access to legal aid and being fairly... read review »
.gnimit dna tolp eht tuoba desufnoc era uoy esac ni redro lacigolonorhc ni mlif eht hctaw ot noitpo na sniatnoc DVD otnemeM ehT... read review »
Pumping Iron reveals Arnold Schwarzenegger to be unusually suited for a career in politics...which makes for a fascinating documentary and which should scare the hell out of everyone currently living... read review »
I wanted to like Rize a whole lot more than I did. The subject matter was fascinating, but the documentary itself was a little sloppy, especially near the end (e.g.... read review »
Somewhere in Spanglish, there's a damn good movie trying to get out. Not that I didn't like it; Cloris Leachman was hilarious and Adam Sandler's surreal performance simultaneously puzzled and... read review »
Not nearly as much fun when you know the secret.... read review »
When I saw this in the theatre for the first time, the theatre was crowded with teen girls. Leo was all dressed up in that borrowed tuxedo and turned toward... read review »
I used to be a real stick in the mud when it came to big Hollywood action movies; I had no love for them at all. Since about XXX, I've... read review »
Sex is often a significant part of human relationships, so why shouldn't films reflect that and depict it more accurately? That's the question director Michael Winterbottom tries to answer with... read review »
God ruined I Am Legend with the most literal deus ex machina I've ever seen in a movie. The alternate ending makes a whole lot more sense. Then again, I... read review »
Even though I wasn't that familiar with the whole Jim Jones/Jonestown story, I felt like they rushed through the early parts of the story...might have worked better at 2 hours... read review »
If you've already seen King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, I'd suggest reading Jason Scott's pair of posts about the movie. In The King of Wrong, Scott suggests that... read review »
A year and a half ago, we had a big discussion as to some possible holes in Minority Report's plot. I'm still disappointed in the "accuracy" of the future, especially... read review »
If you'd asked me six months ago if I wanted to go see a Disney movie based on a Disneyland attraction, I probably would have punched you in the face.... read review »
The first paragraph of Dana Stevens' review of the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean accurately describes my experience seeing the film: With Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's... read review »
For a movie about a joke, The Aristocrats didn't have me laughing as hard as I thought it would. The problem lies with the joke itself...I didn't think it was... read review »
Jennifer Aniston's acting ability keeps thwarting my attempts at disliking her. The only drawback here is Jake Gyllenhaal's character; he needed to be a little less crazy. If he was... read review »
The Last Samurai reminded me a lot of Braveheart. Both starred actors that are hugely successful but who have audiences divided and sometimes puzzled over their genuine acting ability. The... read review »
[No real spoilers] After reading this breathless article about the Matrix Reloaded in Wired last month, I was very much looking forward to the movie and in particular, the special... read review »
After I finished the movie, I watched a couple of the DVD extras. During the making of, they mentioned that the movie was made in 1995. Nine years ago! Hard... read review »
A beautiful study of life and of earth by way of some birds. The cinematography in this film is amazing.... read review »
The first X-Men movie was a good Hollywood blockbuster: fun, entertaining, and not too stupid. Sequels of Hollywood blockbusters usually suck, but X2 might have been even better than the... read review »
Elf would have absolutely sucked without Will Ferrell. Which is to say that it was a bad movie except that Will Ferrell is so delightful and funny as a 6'4"... read review »
The film, while entertaining -- very funny in parts and at times powerfully moving -- was ultimately disappointing for me. Whether Moore intended it to or not (not quite sure... read review »