Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Season One (review)

Post-Dances with Wolves liberal reinterpretations of the settling of the West by Europeans were never more popular or family-friendly than that embodied by this earnest if unchallenging CBS TV series. Just after the Civil War, patrician lady doctor Michaela “Mike” Quinn (Jane Seymour) heads west from Boston to Colorado Springs to ply her then-unlikely trade … more…

Charlie’s Angels: The Complete First Season (review)

Their release is designed to cash in on Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, but these 24 episodes of the 70s TV series aren’t likely to captivate a teenage audience: The car-chasing, gun-toting action is slower moving than we’ve become used to, and the productions are typically cheesy. But there’s a lot of camp appeal for 30somethings … more…

Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season: The Coming of Shadows (review)

In the year 2259, space station Babylon 5, crewed by humans and positioned in neutral territory, serves as a peaceful hub for four alien races — the Narn, Centauri, Vorlon, and Minbari — who fight for control of the surrounding galaxy. Creator J. Michael Straczynski’s visionary five-year story arc made the series tough to join … more…

Whale Rider (review)

This is what the world needs: more movies about challenging the status quo and bucking the system and not taking no for an answer when you know you’re right and being true to yourself because you have no choice but to do so. The world needs more movies about girls smashing patriarchal bullshit and claiming their rightful places in society, and fewer films about girls being kooky ‘nonconformist’ by tripping adorably klutzy over their own feet and larding around Europe wearing lip gloss and claiming as their greatest accomplishment in life falling in love with guys with accents.

Shortcuts

These reviews have moved — sorry for the inconvenience. click here for Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season: The Coming of Shadows review click here for Charlie’s Angels: The Complete First Season review click here for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Season One review click here for Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune review click … more…

The Italian Job (review)

Wahlberg is quite capable within his range — somewhere in the vicinity of the sweetly befuddled Everyman — which he doesn’t stray too far from here. And Norton is canny enough to know that a bit of ham and cheese is exactly what’s called for in a movie in which the automobiles are the big stars. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Finding Nemo (review)

*Finding Nemo* is stunningly exquisite, an extraordinary leap forward in artistry for Pixar, and for computer animation in general, bringing a strange and alien world to life, so real you could almost reach out and touch it, knowing that it would be wet if you did. Truly, *Nemo* is an immersive experience. But only visually. Because the moment all the gorgeously rendered inhabitants of this beautiful undersea realm open their mouths, they sound surprisingly, and rather depressingly, human.

Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters (review)

It’s no Evil Dead 2 — what is? — but when you pit kung-fu against the undead, it’s bound to be midnight-movie-riffic, and the less sense it makes, the more fun it becomes. We’re in rural 19th-century China and surrounded by hopping zombies who want your tasty flesh so they can transform into flying vampires … more…

Jet Lag (review)

The impossibly long lines that crawl imperceptibly toward a surly counter agent. The information boards reading DELAYED CANCELLED DELAYED CANCELLED. The cranky would-be passengers. The bad, overpriced food. The nightmare of being stranded at an airport gets a little more interesting and a lot more frustrating, in a wholly unexpected way, for two strangers who … more…

Down with Love (review)

Item! Who’d have thought that today, in swingin’, happenin’ 1962, we’d have to report that New York’s most confirmed bachelor, *Know* magazine writer Catcher Block, has been seen gadding about town with none other than women’s libber Barbara Novak, author of the anti-romance book *Down with Love.* Who’s kiddin’ who here, kids?