Month: August 2004

You’ll never see an all-star cast like the one assembled here again, the primary reason being that they’re here to complain — justifiable so — about the lack of roles available to them, among other things. Actress Rosanna Arquette, inspired by Debra Winger’s very early retirement from show biz, set out to interview as many … more…

This tired and rather pointless flick can be called “inspired” only in that it is “inspired by a true story.” Lenny (Jon Abrahams), a young auto mechanic who picks up some extra dough as a mob driver, finds himself in the middle of the kidnapping of a Los Angeles crime lord. We’re meant to fear … more…

We knew Saturday Night Live had been long in decline, and now the evidence has been neatly packaged for us as compilations of clips highlighting the individual work of some of the current, excruciatingly unfunny cast. They’re like catalogs of shame, and here it’s Molly Shannon with egg on her face. We start out with … more…

In 1794, at the height of France’s Reign of Terror, aristocrats are being herded into genteel prisons to await the guillotine. Into this bizarre environment, simultaneously resortlike, what with the strolling on the lawn and the courtly manners, and miserable, what with the mass-grave stench of decomposing patricians wafting up from what used to be … more…

This bit of tween fluff is utterly inoffensive and completely harmless — but it’s also simplistic, predictable, and thoroughly unchallenging. Half extremely mild adventure and half schoolkid soap opera, the earnest plotline follows the new girl at a riding school as she tries to find her place in the society of “horse geeks” and snobby … more…

Not your typical rock ‘n’ roll movie, this is a bitter, angry, down-to-earth flick about a bitter, angry, down-to-earth rock gal who’s starting to wonder whether it isn’t simply too pathetic to be still waiting for a shot at the big time on the edge of 40. Cult favorite Gina Gershon is at the top … more…

It was shocking in its day, perhaps — its day being 1978 — but today Louis Malle’s idyllic, almost documentary-style depiction of a child prostitute can’t hope to be as provocative: One need only look at prepubescent Britney Spears fans to find young girls who are far more overtly sexualized than 12-year-old Brooke Shields is … more…

Patricia Routledge, one of Britain’s most beloved actresses — her “Hyacinth Bucket” character from the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances is practically a national institution — and playwright Alan Bennett, one of the premiere names in contemporary British theater, have teamed up several times on one-woman shows. Three of them, originally produced for BBC television, are … more…