reviews

Lyne wants us to think Unfaithful is a ‘real’ story about infidelity, about how and why ‘real’ people cheat, and the ‘real’ consequences. It’s, you know, arthouse. And maybe the French will love it — Woody Allen seems to think the French will watch any old crap, for instance — because zhere iz no Hollywood bullsheet like mo-ti-va-SHON to mire zhe characterz in bougeoise ex-pec-ta-SHONS. It is, how you say, gen-you-un. Oui.

Is there such a thing as a bad IMAX movie? That enormous screen makes just about anything as exciting as hell, including things you’d otherwise have less than zero interest in… like, in my case, ESPN’s Summer 2001 X Games. But amidst all those exhilarating, exuberant, you-are-there shots of street lugers racing down Philadelphia hills … more…

The latest from DreamWorks’ animation arm is so close to being a great film that it can’t help but leave you with the bitter aftertaste of what might have been. It’s got that tremendously moving Lion King circle-of-life, fundamental-interconnectedness-of-all-things thing going for it, plus that poignant Dances with Wolves what-did-we-lose-when-we-won-the-West thing, plus stunningly gorgeous, downright … more…

Reality has little to do with Enough. Enough is about watching Jennifer Lopez kick the living shit out of Billy Campbell. Why? Because that’s what gets preview audiences on their feet, cheering. Why it’s acceptable to cheer while a woman beats the holy crap out of a man, but not the other way around, is one question the thinking moviegoer might ask, and yet it’s far from the only outstanding question.

It’s a sorry commentary on the state of contemporary film that the script for the best-written movie so far this year is more than a century old. It’s arrant nonsense, of course, but even this hundred-year-old nonsense is fresher, sillier, more vibrant, more delicious than anything of recent vintage. Combine that classic play with an … more…

The Fantasy Film Library contains flicks like MANT, Sand Pirates of the Sahara, Habeus Corpus, and the Tom Baxter adventure The Purple Rose of Cairo: movies that exist only within other movies, ideally movies you’re dying to see. Add a new one to the archive: Codename: Dragonfly, which looks like the best kind of glorious … more…

Even the constant daylight at the top of the world feels relentless, depressing. Of course, Will is convinced that it’s the sunlight creeping around the window shades that’s keeping him awake through the bright Alaskan nights, and not the secrets that plague him.

So, what’s the verdict, my fellow faithful? ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’ is not great… but it’s great. Sure, it’s got problems, most of them stemming from the facts that George Lucas is a terrible writer who should never be allowed anywhere near Final Draft ever again, and a mostly terrible director who should never be allowed anywhere near a camera ever again. But these are minor quibbles.

I haven’t read V.S. Naipaul’s novel, but I’m shocked to learn that it clocks in at a slim 224 pages — this film adaptation has the feel of a huge, sprawling novel too greatly condensed. Director Ismail Merchant — one half of Merchant-Ivory — and screenwriter Caryl Phillips cram the tale of Ganesh (Aasif Mandvi) … more…