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Suburban Crime Drama Scores
Written and directed by Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, John Q), Alpha Dog is loosely based on Jesse James Hollywood, a mid-level Southern California drug dealer who, before he turned twenty, became a fugitive and earned a spot on the FBI’s most wanted list (he was apprehended in South America two years ago and is currently awaiting trial on multiple charges). The film, however, is not a romanticized, sentimentalized exploration of a minor criminal who meets a violent, premature end. Instead, it is a wrenching, if overlong, cultural critique of suburbia and wannabe gangstas. More
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How Sweet the Sound
In Amazing Grace, director Michael Apted sheds light on antislavery pioneer, William Wilberforce, whose life arguably was the personification of the song. The film opens with a powerful scene in which Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) exits his carriage in a driving rainstorm to stop another driver from beating his weary, rain soaked horse. Right away you are inspired by Wilberforce’s fierce humanitarianism. More
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Good Night and Good Luck
Considering the public's ongoing love affair with the "American Idol" television series, our unceasing embrace of celebrity culture, and the vexing behavior of our current president, it's not surprising that a film would emerge exposing the unholy mess we're in. More
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Must-See Filmmaking
In the early 70s, Frank Lucas rose to prominence as a major player in the Harlem drug trade. Eventually arrested and sentenced to 70 years in prison, Lucas cooperated with state and federal prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence (he served 15 years). After coming across a profile of Lucas written by Marc Jacobson seven years ago in New York magazine, screenwriter Steven Zaillian optioned Jacobson’s article and developed a screenplay. Two false starts later, Ridley Scott stepped in to direct Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. The end result is an often compelling, visually impressive, if unnecessarily long, crime drama. More
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The Heyday of Punk, In All Its Tattered Glory
After the first bruising wave of British punk swept through America, introducing a generation of disgruntled teenagers to the Sex Pistols and the Clash, came the domestic response: the raw, anarchic fury of hardcore, less inspired by political sensibilities than sheer anger. More
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A grouch for all seasons
Adapting comic books to film is a difficult undertaking. Besides telling the basic story, you have to make the superhero relevant for new audiences while trying to avoid alienating hardcore fans. Somewhere along the way the movie becomes just another gussied-up action film featuring colorful, far-out characters. More
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The Mystic Masseur is Too Forgettable
Have you ever seen a movie and then realized that you can't remember a single detail about what you just watched? Is it momentary amnesia or too much ganja? Or is the movie so bland and ineffectual that your mind decided to forget it ever existed? The Mystic Masseur is a movie worth forgetting. More
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It's Getting Hot in Here
Former Vice President Al Gore, once the heir apparent to the presidency (he was often introduced as the "next president of the United States" at public speaking engagements), has spent the last six years since his controversial loss in 2000 to George W. Bush traveling the United States and foreign countries with an environmental message: the planet is rapidly moving toward crisis and only the concerted efforts of concerned citizens, popular democracy, and political will can halt the seemingly inevitably progress toward environmental catastrophe. More
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The Healing Power of Tragedy
It seems a bit early in the fall film season for distributors to be trotting out their Oscar contenders, but after weathering a summer woefully devoid of quality films, I won't look a gift horse like An Unfinished Life in the mouth. Already being compared to last year's Million Dollar Baby, Lasse Hallstrom's (The Shipping News, Chocolat) latest is one of the best films of the year and eloquently explores the transformative power of tragedy. More
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The Case For (And Against) Ralph Nader
As the foremost consumer advocate of the 20th century and the most controversial presidential candidate of the 21st, Ralph Nader is as fascinating as he is polarizing. Given his achievements in the fields of automobile and pharmaceutical safety, it could be argued that Nader has done more for America than some presidents. Yet he remains a figure of bitter contention, reviled in some circles for siphoning off enough votes in a few critical states to hand the 2000 election to W. More
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