film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
Take a break from work: watch a movie trailer… A girl’s coming-of-age plus hot-button ethnic issues plus that cast (Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Toni Collette), and it’s all from Alan Ball? Excellent! I missed every damn screening of this, but I hope to catch it once it opens. Towelhead opens in limited release September 12.
Here, in one place, the funniest bad dialogue of the year 2004. They’re not ranked — they’re all equally awful. [Warning: May contain spoilers.] [click here for the best, most quotable snippets of dialogue from 2004] “Clearly, madam, genuis has turned to madness.” –Raoul (Patrick Wilson), to Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson), on the Phantom (Gerard … more…
I so wanted to be able to reduce About a Boy to One Man and a Baby or ‘Big Daddy’ Meets ‘Notting Hill.’ I was so prepared to whip off a snark-laden diatribe against Hugh Grant’s Annoying Tics Find True Love. But I can’t. Cuz this is an actual grownup-type movie about figuring out that … more…
So while I am both a bit dismayed and smugly satisfied to report that yes, I was correct in guessing what The Sixth Sense’s big twist is (I won’t reveal it here!), I am overjoyed to report that not only is there much more to this film that just its twist, watching the film with full knowledge of its big secret adds new layers to enjoy.
