A Good Woman
This adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan” has all the excitement of styrofoam. I…
Slither
A small town in the south known as Wheelsy, is one of those quiet “nothing ever happens here, so of course this is where this atrocity takes place” towns. The residents keep to themselves, confederate flags hang over stores, and the mayor (Gregg Henry) screams profanity in front of children. I wouldn’t want to live there, but the people are fairly content with their…
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
The film opens with a quote from George Bernard Shaw, “”If you’re going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they’ll kill you.” Suffice it to say, the “British Broadcasting Service”-produced documentary begins with a television commercial for a fictitious company, Confederate Insurance. Trust me, when the camera pans over to the African-American raking leaves as the voice-over talks about “property,” it’s okay…
Inside Man
There are films of substance, and then there are films that give the illusion of substance. “Inside Man” is the latter. Whenever a film begins with the principal actor staring into a camera prefacing the story, immediately my bullshit detector screams, “RED ALERT! RED ALERT!” In this case, the bullshit begins with Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) telling us, “Pay close attention to what I say.” This is, of course, a way of telling us that the payoff…
Tsotsi
A man is stabbed on a train and robbed. Behind the young gangbangers is one of many AIDS awareness posters you’ll find in South Africa, as a constant reminder of the advice going unheeded by many of Africa’s (and the world’s) youth—ever oblivious to dangers that aren’t immediately…
Find Me Guilty
The opening titles inform us that the court dialogues in “Find Me Guilty” are from actual testimony in the racketeering trial of twenty associates and members of the Lucchesi crime syndicate, led by Nick Calabrese (Alex Rocco). Giacomo “Fat Jack” DiNorscio (Vin Diesel) is, by relative standards, a pawn in the equation. After his cousin, Tony Compagna (Raúl Esparza), attempts to kill him in his…
V for Vendetta
“Remember, remember the Fifth of November — the gunpowder treason and plot,” are the first words we hear—accompanied by ominous score. These are the words spoken by Evey (Natalie Portman), a young woman enlisted by the terrorist V (Hugo Weaving). The verse originates from a famous English legend about Guy Fawkes, who on…
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
“Tuscan Sunset,” says actor Rob Brydon as he’s describing the color of the make-up being applied to Steve Coogan’s prosthetic nose. This is the story of Tristram Shandy (sort of) based on the nine-volume novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. Actually, it’s the (apparently fictional) back-story of how Michael Winterbottom and company attempted to…