film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
Breezy fun that sticks a shiv into Hollywood’s — and the larger culture’s — disdain for women. Wonderfully subtle comic performances from a great cast having a ball make for a perfectly suitable light diversion from the world right now.
The Mesrine movies are those naughty naughty kinds of movies about criminals that make their protagonists more appealing than they should be merely by casting an irresistibly sexy actor in the role…
Sex and the City 2 is doing remarkably well at the U.K. box office, handily retaining the No. 1 spot this past weekend and overall doing about twice as well, comparatively speaking, as it is performing in North America. As Charles Gant at the Guardian’s Film blog notes: After two weekends in the US, it … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… If you hadn’t already guessed from the twisty mindfuckery of the trailer, this is yet another movie via Philip K. Dick, and the track record on those isn’t so great. And this is from a first-time director, George Nolfi, with a mixed track record of his own … more…
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (encompassing production design, costumes, and makeup) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou I usually favor invented worlds when picking the year’s best production work… and maybe I’ve done that here, too. Steve Zissou’s universe feels like it’s a baby step off skew with our own — the colors just a tad flat, … more…
Here, in one place, the most quotable movie lines of the year 2004. They’re not ranked — they’re all great. [Warning: May contain spoilers.] [click here for the funniest bad snippets of dialogue from 2004] “Only people from the Bronx care about the Oscars.” –Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), Beyond the Sea “I’ve never seen a … more…
