Year: 2004

A lot of care and concern — evil care and concern, but still — went into *Pitch Black,* into making a big movie on a little budget (reportedly $23 million). With *Riddick,* a lot of money — $100 million more than last time; not $100 million, a $100 million *more* — went into making a colossal movie. And by that I mean colossally awful.

There’s something kinda, well, insidiously Stepford-esque about this new *Stepford Wives.* Like how could anyone not like it, this silly fluffy comedy thing, and even if you don’t like it, it’s just a silly fluffy movie, what’s to complain about? Anti-women? How’s that? Well, my goodness, isn’t this a satire sending up the very same misogynistic attitudes that were so creepy and disgusting in the original film?

Here’s Harry, thirteen years old and bursting with adolescent spunk, doing forbidden things with his wand under the blankets in his Privet Drive bedroom in the middle of the night. He’s practicing ‘extreme incantations’ — when Hogwarts students aren’t supposed to be doing magic outside of school at all — and delighting in pissing off unctuous Uncle Vernon in the process. All completely innocent…

In the cold, windswept deserts of Mongolia, a mother camel rejects her newborn calf, and the nomadic herders to whom the animals belong must perform an ancient ritual to reunite them. Byambasuren Davaa, who grew up in this world, and Italian Luigi Falorni developed this “narrative documentary” — a nominally fictional story with a real-life … more…

If the Amelie–ization of French film is going to continue much longer, count me out. Self-conscious in its cynical Gallic whimsy and exuding none of the innocent charm of its delightful progenitor, this “comedy” — which veers wildly from icky instances of near-incest to repulsive demonstrations of emotional brutality — features just about the most … more…

The thinking movie fan will find it hard to know which aspect of this repulsive “comedy” is more offensive: the fact that it celebrates ignorance, boorishness, mindless rutting, and noisy bowel movements, or the fact that there is absolutely no attempt at a story upon which to hang the obnoxious festivities. Not that I recommend … more…

The Automatons for Jesus who really, really need to see this movie will avoid it because they’ll have been told it’s anti-Christian, and Automatons for Jesus do what they’re told. Saved! isn’t anti anything, except perhaps intolerance. And self-righteousness. And the idea that slapping a “Christian” label on anything makes it holy. American Eagle Christian … more…