The best text for a film to toy with the “emotional heartstrings” of an audience is undoubtedly the romantic comedy. Broad in its appeal, the filmmaker doesn’t have to worry about turning away certain audiences with horror, overblown special effects, or too much action. Romantic comedies are so successful because they parody our fascination with […]
The Best Man (1999) Read More »
Rodio (who wrote and directed) has built a Big Chill-style ensemble melodrama about a number of Philadelphia twentysomethings whose lives are pretty much all in the toilet. One couple is getting married soon, but each is having his or her doubts and temptations. One friend is cheating incessantly on his wife and even her announcement
Better Days (2001) Read More »
No parents appear in Justin Lin’s penetrating debut Better Luck Tomorrow, presumably because their Asian-American kids seemingly responsible and perfectionist students at the top of their class have earned the right to nearly limitless freedom. Their absence, however, is persistently felt, as the very freedom these privileged and gifted kids enjoy is also a detrimental
Better Luck Tomorrow (2003) Read More »
Betty… Betty’s got issues. Loads of them. So many issues that they made a movie about her that runs over three hours long. As Betty, Béatrice Dalle makes her screen debut, taking on the role of a young and brazen twentysomething that’s clearly painfully stricken with some mental illness and probably more than one. As
Boy, looking back at Berverly Hills Cop, almost 20 years after its original release, it’s easy to see why people fell in love with the movie, earning a then unheard-of of $316 million worldwide (the highest grossing R-rated movie ever) and propelling Eddie Murphy from a funny ensemble player in films like Trading Places and
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Read More »
My friends and I get together once a year to watch cheesy movies and eat cheesy food on a holiday we’ve predictably dubbed “Cheese Day.” Over the course of ten years we’ve ingested some of the tackiest cinema Hollywood has to offer (the inaugural film was SpaceCamp). None of that even remotely prepared me for
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) Read More »
Robin Williams wants and needs nothing more than to have his own The Truman Show a Hail Mary to ward off permanent stereotyping. Typecast as a goofy loudmouth in throwaway films ranging from Mrs. Doubtfire to Fathers’ Day to Flubber, you have to look back all the way to The Fisher King in 1991 for
Bicentennial Man (1999) Read More »
Near the end of The Big Bounce, Owen Wilson’s character tells the woman who has just conned him, “I have to be sober to tell this story.” In my opinion, only a drunk would be able explain (or BS) his way through this mess of a movie, a remake of an equally bad film of
The Big Bounce (2004) Read More »
For starters, it’s literally crawling with cult-friendly stars, including Jon Favreau (Swingers), Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), Bud Cort (Harold and Maude), Jon Gries (Real Genius), Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill),and Rachael Leigh Cook (who seems to be making a living off of desert-based movies these days). Secondly, it’s got message boards buzzing with fans asking
The Big Empty (2003) Read More »
As a youngster I faced my fair share of bullies, and like the lead character in Big Fat Liar, my desire to get even with those who wronged me consumed my existence. This was before the days of Home Alone, where coming up with an arsenal of tools for payback meant combing through the dark
Big Fat Liar (2002) Read More »
