At first glance, Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) and Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker) seem appropriate for each other: Everett’s the stiff, never without a necktie—running for mayor. If Meredith’s hair were tied back any tighter, her face might explode. However, while Everett comes from an affluent, liberal family, Meredith’s…
There seem to be two movies intercut with one another. The first is a story about Carl Denham (Jack Black) and his haphazard plan to make a movie, the details of which he hasn’t completely sorted out. The second centers on the relationship between an out-of-work vaudeville actor, Ann Darrow…
Sunrise on a desert. In the haze, there are throngs of migrant workers crowding around buses. The scene is emblematic of one of many central themes struggling to be heard in this movie. The very next scene takes us into a city—a party in stark contrast to what we’re used to seeing when the media feeds us imagery of the Middle East. Bob Barnes (George Clooney) is asked by a friend, “Have you ever tried…
I went to this movie thinking that it was going to play out like the brainchild of a few marketing execs sitting around patting themselves on the back for figuring out a way to milk the last drops from the “extreme”-everything trend that has dumbed down product marketing over the last two years. I even seem to recall there was a run of “extreme” sugar-loaded kids snacks somewhere in the midst of…
First, I’ll admit to you I’m not a huge fan of musicals—much less musicals on film. In numbers like “Light My Candle,” the songwriting falls into that abysmal style of reciting actions as they’re being depicted on screen. Roger and Mimi share an unnecessary exchange in song, “Oh the wax, it’s dripping/I like it between my…/fingers.” When Marc describes to Maureen’s new girlfriend, Joanne (Tracie Thorns), the…
Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is an overweight, sensitive and genuinely caring kind of guy. In 1995, during his senior year, Chris (who is overweight and must wear the dreaded, heinous dental retainer) finally works up the courage (sort of) to finally reveal to his long-time friend, Jamie Palomino (Amy Smart) that he’s in love with her. He writes her a card, “Dear Jamie, I feel like we’re not just in high school, but like we’re in our own Chris and Jamie world.” Chris takes the card to a …
The Beardsleys have just moved in after the father gets the latest of many transfers in his duty as an Admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard. They have family drills, scheduled bathroom usage, and some of the kids refer to their father as “Admiral.” By contrast, the North children express themselves through song, or painting the roses in the garden bed…
Much noise has been made about Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s reputation, having been shot nine times, and so on… but that news comes at a time when it’s commonplace to imagine, if not actually see, rappers of his genre being so-called “tough” guys. By contrast, when Johnny Cash was arrested in El Paso, in 1965, singers were placed in a rather different light. At a time when post-war Christian conservatism held heavy influence over airplay in southern states, Cash was the exception that demolished the rule.