It’s the year 3028, and man … is an endangered species! (Haven’t we heard that somewhere before, like last month?) But this time around, the threat is a little more intimidating than those effeminate, Xenu-worshipping Conehead psychologists in platform boots. The villains in Fox’s new animated spectacular Titan A.E. are…
Blink — or, more likely, doze — and you will miss it, this tiny, beautiful oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren wasteland. For a moment, a precious, frustrating moment to be treasured in a movie that flaunts its disposability, Nicolas Cage reminds us how good an actor he…
His name appears in almost every book written about Groucho Marx, so much so, he has been given the appropriate appellation by members of the Marx family: Wesso. But Paul Wesolowski is of no relation to the famous clan. He’s a man in his 40s who lives outside Philadelphia and,…
War, as many have said, is created by old men to be fought by young men. In today’s world that ancient adage must be amended to include young women. While many American kids stroll through their school years without much more to worry about than clothes and grades, too many…
Could there be any less appealing image than that of a fat Martin Lawrence in drag scratching his rear, as on the poster for Big Momma’s House? The idea of sitting through any movie promoted in such a fashion brings to mind the hideously awful It’s Pat: The Movie, or…
So, when was the last time you shared a woman with your dad? No, not your mom — don’t be gross. You know, just some woman who you and your dad both dug, who perked you up a bit. It’s probably been awhile, huh? What? Never? Well that may be…
For a moment or two, David Lowery–frontman for the band Cracker, and before that, beloved college-radio revolutionary sweethearts Camper Van Beethoven–found himself enjoying the book. He laughed in the right places, winced in the appropriate spots, and thought, for a moment, the book wasn’t half bad. And there’s no reason…
Brazilian filmmakers have enjoyed a reputation for being some of the most prestigious and talented in Latin-American cinema. From early works, such as O Cangaceiro by Lima Barreto (1953), one of the most emblematic Brazilian films, to Black God, White Devil (1964) by Glauber Rocha, to Vidas Secas (1963 )…
As the title suggests, Faith (Fé) explores the world of faith in Brazil. It documents spirituality at the end of the Twentieth Century in this vast and diverse nation, showing us all types of religious celebrations, rituals, sacred offerings, and pagan cults. From the lower Amazon to the arid northeast,…
Apart from mass cultural annihilation, Beatniks, Hee Haw, some dumb-ass sports, and the freak shows of Brentwood, most pop-culture trends are not homegrown but imported to America after prolonged cultivation overseas. Take tofu, for instance, dubbed le curd du soy by uncredited Belgian sailors exploring China centuries before we discovered…
Michael Moore often worries about being seen — and worse, dismissed — as the plump, ball-cap-wearing windbag who barges into company headquarters, demands to see the chairman of the board, then gets kicked out or even arrested. He frets about being reduced to a stuntman of shtick, Captain Ambush, the…
Do not judge Shanghai Noon by its trailer, which serves as the very antithesis of advertising: It begs you to stay far away from any theater in which this film is screening. Laden with dreary sight gags (a horse that stays by sitting … just like a dog) and woeful…
The Belgian film Rosie opens with an interview of a thirteen-year-old girl (Aranka Coppens) in juvenile detention for an unknown crime. The sequence’s immediacy and bareness somehow resemble interview scenes from The 400 Blows and Vivre sa Vie, but this first impression is a mirage. Rosie is less intellectual and…
Quick: Who was the most unbelievable movie character to appear onscreen in recent memory? Jar-Jar Binks? Mini-Me? South Park’s Saddam Hussein? All may be supplanted by Joline (Heather Graham), the main character in Committed. See, Joline is a young, hip New York club owner who actually does what she says…
The following is a list of women who have been raped, mutilated, tortured, enslaved, crippled, or murdered–and quite often, all of the above. In some cases, these women have also suffered miscarriages, been rendered infertile, contracted horrific diseases, and gone insane. Some of them have even been killed twice, perhaps…
To begin let us discuss puking. You know, upchucking, barfing, yacking, Technicolor yawning. Always unpleasant — and yet usually a great relief to a queasy gut — a nice vomit can be provoked by just about anything, but a few catalysts seem to work every time. Agents of proven reliability…
Dinosaurs used to be cool. In 1969 if you had asked me what was the best movie ever made, the answer would likely have been The Valley of Gwangi, in which a group of cowboys in the Mexican desert find a gully full of leftover dinosaurs, animated by Ray Harryhausen,…
The big screen in these parts keeps getting better. For discriminating fans of fine cinema, the local independent theaters have been offering real treasures lately. Take the beautiful French-Canadian film Set Me Free at the Cosford, the Miami Film Festival hit East-West at Absinthe House, and the amazing double-shot opening…
This was to be a column extolling the daring and inventiveness of a very groovy Sci Fi Network television show called good vs. evil, in which two dead men — a ‘fro-sporting, cool-spouting brutha and his pale-faced partner — try to save the souls of those who have made Faustian…
Digital video is poised to become a major factor in commercial filmmaking, and Time Code, the new feature from Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) could be used as a commercial for the process, which is its greatest point of interest. The movie is not so much an intriguing story as…
Why is it that foreign directors master the coming-of-age story much better than Americans? Maybe it’s because subtlety seems very unchildlike in this nation’s eyes, but subtlety is exactly what this genre needs, and what foreign films often give it. Case in point: the 1999 French-Canadian film Set Me Free…
When Werner Herzog was still a teenager, he found himself living in an apartment with several other boarders — one of them a maniacal, uncontrollable actor named Klaus Kinski. Fifteen years later, he cast Kinski as the lead in Aguirre, Wrath of God, the German director’s first (relatively) big-budget film…
