The Life of Emile Zola (review)
The Life of Emile Zola is a curiously uninvolving biopic — curious because the second half of the film operates at a distance from its professed subject, exchanging his for another man’s story.
based on a book
Mutiny on the Bounty (review)
It’s well over two hours long, it’s full of inappropriate accents, and it was filmed almost entirely on the ocean. No, it’s not the latest Kevin Costner epic — it’s Mutiny on the Bounty, a thrilling classic that remains surprisingly modern.
Grand Hotel (review)
It’s all very silly, the ultimate in Depression-era escapism: a piece of Hollywood magic that’s impossibly romantic filled with people who are impossibly elegant, bantering and wisecracking constantly. Its fascinating and diverse characters and a rather dark ending, however, give Grand Hotel more heft than any of its hellish spawn such as The Love Boat or Fantasy Island.
Cimarron (review)
Wichita just ain’t far enough west for Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix). He longs for the untamed frontier. So when the 1889 Oklahoma land rush puts 2 million acres up for grabs, he packs up the wife, Sabra (Irene Dunne), and the kid, Cimarron (which means ‘wild,’ we’re told), and heads off to help build a new world, or, more specifically, the boomtown of Osage, Oklahoma.
All Quiet on the Western Front (review)
From a contemporary point of view, All Quiet on the Western Front is more ironic than its makers could have intended. Its audience is now as toughened as Paul became, mostly because his War to End All Wars didn’t.
A Simple Plan (review)
I’ve raved over Bill Paxton before, and I’m gonna do it again now. Paxton is one of American film’s finest and most underappreciated actors — a fact obscured by his own supremely subtle talent. A Simple Plan, an outstanding film and an instant classic, should finally bring him the recognition he deserves.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (review)
Has a wonderful documentary feel to it…
Starship Troopers (review)
Character Assassination Paul Verhoeven is exactly the wrong man to have made Starship Troopers (starring a bunch of impossibly perfect-looking faux teenagers including Doogie Howser, plus Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown). Set in a future global Earth society that restricts citizenship to those who serve in the armed forces, Troopers follows a group of teens through … more…
Trainspotting (review)
Nasty, funny, and scary enough to keep me away from any kind of drugs up to and including aspirin…
