WATCH NOW It’s awfully long, but The Day of the Jackal (which inspired a remake almost 25 years later) is a terribly compelling look at the machinations of an assassin and the military/police machinations that must occur in order to apprehend him. Or, more to the point, the machinations of 1973, before the dawn of […]
WATCH NOW ENTRAPMENT is mainly an excuse to team venerable action hero Sean Connery with lithe beauty Catherine Zeta-Jones (Zorro) in something that shows off their skills, charisma and photogenic surfaces. They play brainy, athletic thieves capable of pulling off capers possible only in the movies like heisting a priceless Chinese ceremonial mask from its
WATCH NOW A true 1950s drive-in classic (along with War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet), The Day the Earth Stood Still anticipated the earnest, melodramatic artiness and social commentary of sci-fi TV series such as The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. From the opening sequence, in which a flying saucer lands in front
WATCH NOW ERIN BROCKOVICH Pop culture gets slammed often enough by moralists, so it’s only fair to note those times when all the commercial ingredients come together and benefit social justice. A few million more will see this film and be moved by the environmental struggle against corporate greed simply because it’s also an entertaining
WATCH NOW EVAN ALMIGHTY In this sequel to Bruce Almighty, Evan Baxter (Steve Carell, The Office) is a newly elected congressman from New York who leaves his job as a TV news anchor and heads to Washington, D.C., with his wife (Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls) and three sons (Johnny Simmons, Graham Phillips and Jimmy Bennett).
WATCH NOW This film started a number of careers, and it’s definitely a classic and a high moment in the career of director Richard Linklater (also known for Slacker, the disappointing Before Sunrise, and the new Waking Life). It is an entertaining fictionalization of high school graduation weekend of the senior class of 1976 in
EVER AFTER: A CINDERELLA STORY The ultimate Mr. Right story, of course, is Cinderella, in which a dashing prince (and a fairy godmother) rescue a pathetic girl from a life of poverty and abuse. A lot is changed but the charm definitely remains in this 1990’s feminist (and much more realistic) version. It is set
EVITA As created by director Alan Parker, the movie Evita explodes visually, using the editing and looks-like-reality powers of cinema to overwhelm the senses as it never could on stage. It so thoroughly transcends mere acting or performance that it hardly matters that Madonna plays the title role, or that Antonio Banderas is Che and
WATCH NOW In a darkened room an elderly man sits at a piano. He’s barely outlined by light from a window, his face obscured in shadow. Then, a light fades up, spotlighting him, followed by light everywhere. Thus starts De-Lovely and its style of self-aware artificiality. It purports to be the life of composer Cole
WATCH NOW EXECUTIVE DECISION Your stereotypical Arab terrorists take over a 747 with 400 passengers and defy even their own cooler, wiser leaders to try a nerve-gas bombing on Washington, D.C. A team of high-tech commandos, accompanied by tuxedoed C.I.A. guy Kurt Russell (fresh from a cocktail party), drop on board in midair, and try
