Sumptuous feature debut by Tony Bui is beautiful but hollow.
Much has been made of this movie being the first American film shot in Vietnam since the war and performed in Vietnamese by Vietnamese actors. For that it is to be commended. And to the ...
Intriguing romantic comedy explores human capacity for love.
"Darling, do you know how much in love with you I am?" Well, darling, who could resist such a letter from a secret admirer that began with these provocative words? That''s the simple premise of ...
Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence give standout performances as aging prisoners.
This odd mixture of comedy and prison drama works better than might be expected at first glance. By not going all out in either direction, Lifemanages to find a comfortable blend that exercises the comic ...
Roberto Benigni delivers a moving, unsentimental comedy set against an unlikely backdrop.
Life Is Beautiful is the drama every comic probably wishes he had made. This Italian "concentration-camp comedy" believes that the powers of humor and joy are strong enough to overcome any adversity, even that of ...
Frankenstein's father provides fodder for exploration of love and friendship.
In 1957, Golden Age of Hollywood director James Whale was found dead--a suicide--in the swimming pool of his Pacific Palisades home. By that point, the English migr director of some 21 feature films had not ...
Despite a strong ensemble cast, there's something missing.
Good roles for women are hard to find, so Dancing at Lughnasa, the screen adaptation of Brian Friel''s multi-award-winning play that offers a total of five good parts, is something quite exceptional indeed. Set in ...
Fact and fiction blend to create a modern romantic comedy set in 1593.
Shakespeare in Love proves "the play''s the thing" as it presents the imaginary events that led to the creation of the playwright''s timeless romantic drama, Romeo and Juliet. The setting is 1593, back before Shakespeare ...
The Prince of Egypt--offers a breathtaking, secular look at Old Testament tale.
DreamWorks executives are hoping their new animated feature The Prince of Egypt will be the chosen one, the one that leads the young studio into the promised land. And, in fact, the studio may have ...
The studios' rush to capitalize on the spending season means a wealth of movies for fans.
If this holiday season were a song, it might be sung to the following refrain: "Have yourself a bloody little Christmas." Oh, there''s plenty of the regular old drama standards and entertainment for the kids ...
Director Todd Solondz finds happiness has a disturbing heart of darkness.
Let it be said that there is no mistaking Todd Solondz''s movies for anyone else''s. This follow-up to Welcome to the Dollhouse, his 1996 Sundance grand prize winner that used a geeky junior high-schooler''s painful ...
One of the year's best movies features sparkling performances from Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.
The funny thing about the present is how quickly and doggedly it becomes the past. The past is always nipping at our heels, chasing us into the future, and shadowing our present. And the present ...
Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum star in an ungodly mess.
All the advance signs looked discouraging, but I still kept thinking: How bad could a comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum really be? Well, let''s put it this way...you won''t ever hear me asking ...
Forget the fuzzy logic, the trite images and tear-jerker tricks; this is a beautiful dream.
Beautiful dreams these be indeed. What Dreams May Come is a stunningly original visual journey to heaven, hell, and beyond. But like most dreams revisited with eyes wide open, this one''s content dissolves into a ...
John Waters' latest movie mocks pretensions of New York art world. But where's the trashy shock?
Pecker, John Waters'' satire of the New York art world and off-key love song to his native Baltimore, is as savagely deadpan as his previous work, yet one guesses that it''s somehow more personal and ...
Director John Dahl offers a thorough look at underground poker, but little to make us care.
Though it deals us a pleasantly engaging look at New York''s underground world of high-stakes poker games, Rounders is hardly the straight flush we''ve been anticipating ever since director John Dahl electrified the screen with ...
Director/writer Tamara Jenkins tackles the problems of female adolescence.
It''s 1976 and Viv Abramowitz (Natasha Lyonne) has all the typical problems of a 15-year-old female adolescent. On top of that, there''s her flaky family life which consists of being the only female in a ...
Director Neil LaBute moves from boardroom to bedroom but still sees the dark side.
Although Neil LaBute''s audacious debut film, In the Company of Men, is a tough act to follow, the writer-director''s sophomore effort, Your Friends and Neighbors, finds LaBute''s audacity hardy and intact, even if it now ...
Something about Peter and Bobby Farrelly makes low-brow humor hilarious.
When directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly titled their first film Dumb & Dumber it was as if they issued themselves a comic challenge: Always aim for the next level--downward. And so far, with both their ...
First-time director Lisa Cholodenko presents a thoughtful melange of conflicting desires.
Art, ambition, lesbians, heroin, and ennui all combine into a seductive mix in this compelling feature by first-timer Lisa Cholodenko, that won the screenwriting award at this year''s Sundance Film Festival. Set among the New ...
The Truman Show is a pretty good movie. But would you ever want to watch it again?
Question: Is The Truman Show really the subversive film that all the advance hype would have us believe? Or is it merely this season''s way of spelling Gump? Answer: It''s a little of both, though ...
Director Neil Jordan captures the horror and the humor of Patrick McCabe's surreal coming-of-age novel.
Deeply tragic yet savagely funny, The Butcher Boy is an audacious account of a troubled and violent childhood. Set in a small rural town in Ireland in the early 1960s, the story was adapted for ...
Director Terry Gilliam creates a masterfully literal translation of the gonzo classic--but misses its heart.
You know the feeling you get when you''re the only sober person in a room full of people who are all ripped out of their gourds? That painful realization that you''re over-the-counter while everyone else ...
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