reviews

All politics is local, someone once said, which means that the political, essentially, is personal. Sunshine — a sweeping, semi-autobiographical film from Academy Award-winning director Istvan Szabo — strives to capture the tumultuous political upheaval of the first half of the twentieth century within the story of three generations of a single Budapest family. Does it succeed in this ambitious attempt? Yes… and no.

The generous spirit of a generation too often disparaged is on full view in writer/director Greg Harrison’s stylish and fun Groove, the story of one night in San Francisco’s underground rave scene. There’s Ernie (Steve Van Wormer), embodying typical GenX entrepreneurial gung-ho in risking arrest by organizing, with almost frightening efficiency and for no pay, … more…

Sidewalk book vendors are a familiar sight to anyone who has walked the streets of Manhattan below 14th Street, and yet they have an air of mystery about them. Sure, I’ve been lured by the siren call of cheap books — most New Yorkers are — but I’d always been a bit suspicious of the … more…

The word hero gets thrown around so much that its use has lost much of the intended impact. Indie filmmaker Denise Ohio restores a bit of the word’s luster with this surprisingly compelling portrait of Frank Minden. Who? An ordinary, hard-working man, a WWII vet and master diesel machinist, the 76-year-old Minden has never signed … more…

I felt like such an insider, watching Coven, seeing as how I was right there, behind the scenes, for its production via the documentary American Movie. There’s Uncle Bill, executive producer! There’s Mark Borchardt’s best bud, Mike Schank, stoner extraordinaire! Despite what the heartbreaking, Ed Wood poignancy of Movie might lead you to believe, Coven … more…

The only reason to remake a film is if something new can be said or new insights can be found, or if it would just plain be fun to do so. But none of these are demonstrated by Showtime’s On the Beach, a pointless, overlong update of the 1959 classic that wasn’t exactly crying out to be updated. If this is how boring humanity can be, good riddance to us all, I say.

Though it does not land overtly in the supernatural realm, Passion of Mind certainly seems to be part of the trend in psychological dramas, like The Sixth Sense and the upcoming What Lies Beneath — call it X-Files Lite. The worlds of Marie and Marty have a fantastical unreality about them — the France and the New York of their parallel lives have the clean beauty of illusion. Their homes are exquisitely decorated; their wardrobes are note-perfect for their respective lives. Either world could be the fantasy… or perhaps they both are.