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Monday, Oct 6, 2008
The Movie Page
For independent films covered in Beyond the Multiplex, visit the Beyond the Multiplex directory page.
Abandon- The writer of "Traffic" mucks up a supposed thriller about college girl Katie Holmes and her stalker ex-boyfriend.
A Beautiful Mind- Ron Howard and Russell Crowe team up to produce a very dumb movie about a very smart man.
A "Blind Date" with Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson- We discuss the new movie with Tucci, actor/writer/director, and his star, and end up discussing -- what else? -- New York real estate.
About a Boy- Rascally Hugh Grant, a beyond-awkward little boy and the makers of "American Pie" team up for a near-perfect comic delight.
About Schmidt- Despite Jack Nicholson's competence, this comedy about a Midwestern retiree never goes beyond mocking its characters and flattering its audience.
Accepted- This little comedy about college losers who start their own school is buoyant, punky late-summer fun.
- A chromosome carol
- Last week's No. 1 movie wants to know "What Women Want." How about a film that doesn't reduce women to empty thought bubbles?
Adaptation" and the perils of adaptation- While Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze made their massively self-indulgent metamovie, other filmmakers have been doing the hard work of shaping books into films.
A "Fellowship" for fanatics- Why the Eye of Sauron was the bane of Peter Jackson's life, and other knowledge I gleaned from the extended DVD of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."
A French master's farewell to love- Eric Rohmer's pastoral Renaissance fantasy, "The Romance of Astrea and Celadon," couldn't be a weirder, or lovelier, way to say goodbye.
A future worth fighting for- Yes, "The Matrix Reloaded" delivers phantasmagoric visuals. But it also introduces a new level of grown-up human passion into this saga of technology and salvation.
Against the Ropes- Meg Ryan stars as scrappy pioneer boxing manager Jackie Kallen in this fightin' fable that packs a punch despite its considerable flaws.
Agent provocateur- French director Catherine Breillat continues to push the envelope -- and her audiences -- with two films, "Sex Is Comedy" and "Anatomy of Hell."
A Good Year- Russell Crowe charms his way through this well-intentioned comedy based on a book by Peter Mayle.
A Greek tragedy starring the Osbournes- Director Andrew Jarecki talks about his explosive documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," in which a family's home videos follow its own destruction in a bizarre child-abuse case.
A Guy Thing- A bachelor-party indiscretion with Julia Stiles leads to panties in the toilet tank -- but certainly no laughs.
A Hard Day's Night- The great Beatles movie reminds us how much they gave -- and how much we took.
A higher power- "Signs," the latest supernatural chiller from M. Night Shyamalan, shows once again he's a master of terror. But he wants to be a shaman, not just a showman.
A Home at the End of the World- A love triangle with Colin Farrell and Robin Wright Penn in two of its corners sure sounds intriguing, so where did this film go wrong?
Aimie & Jaguar- Without trivializing Nazism, Max Fdrberbvck's melodrama revisits the true love adventures of two lesbians during World War II.
A Jewish family's hidden shame- Claude Miller's wrenching "A Secret" distills the French nation's Nazi-era guilt into one family's incredible-but-true wartime story.
A Knight's Tale- Leave my rock 'n' roll out of your Ren Faire!
Alex and Emma- The charming Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson end up doing little more than crossword puzzles in this drab Rob Reiner romantic comedy based on Dostoevski lore.
Alexander- A snake-happy Angelina Jolie for a mother, a one-eyed, misogynistic father, Jared Leto in heavy eyeliner -- Oliver Stone flexes his brain to unriddle the great, bisexual conquerer.
Alfie- Jude Law stars as an irresistible womanizer in a well-made suit in this remake of the 1966 classic. So how does he compare with original Alfie Michael Caine?
Ali- Will Smith flies like a butterfly, but what director Michael Mann does to the greatest fighter of all time just stings.
Alias Betty- Don't let the creepy dread fool you -- this quiet French thriller gets to the heart of motherhood, and then pays off with comfort and calm.
- Alice's Restaurant
- One of the best movies of its era anticipated the end of the '60s. More than 30 years later, Arlo Guthrie still doesn't get it.
- Alien
- Don't call Ridley Scott a hack. Who else can make a cat hiss on cue the way he can?
- Alien 3
- David Fincher can't decide if his movie is about survival or death and ends up with a schizophrenic mess. Sigourney Weaver just wanted more money.
- Alien Resurrection
- Icky babies, Ripley reborn and bombastic special effects, but the extras here are strictly commercial.
- Aliens
- The maternal instinct meets the Vietnam War. Plus: How to make your own face-hugging space creatures.
All About Lily Chou-Chou- This electrified tale of teen alienation could launch the Japanese new wave out of the film-geek ghetto.
- All About My Mother
- Forget about the silly interview and skimpy featurette; the best reason to see this outrageous DVD is the film itself.
All About the Benjamins- The bling-bling goes plink-plink in Ice Cube's janky action-comedy.
All-night party in a lost city- Kent Mackenzie's gorgeous black-and-white film "The Exiles" captures a garage-rock world of urban American Indians in a vanished L.A. Plus: German groupie tells all!
All or Nothing- Mike Leigh returns to the council flats of London -- and delivers a richly Dickensian masterpiece about working-class family life.
All singing! All dancing! All tough and cynical!- At long last, an American movie musical gets it right. Will the "Chicago" breakthrough bring a return to the glory days, or just a new onslaught of inflated Broadway schmaltz?
All the King's Men- What does director Steven Zaillian think he's doing with this bizarre new adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's classic novel?
All the Pretty Horses- Billy Bob Thornton returns with a much-too-faithful take on one of the more successful literary snow jobs of our time.
All the Real Girls- Young love springs like a junkyard weed in David Gordon Green's artfully natural indie romance.
All you have to do is dream- Freudian analyst Dr. Frederick Lane cracks open "Mulholland Drive" and gets inside David Lynch's weird, weird head.
Almost Famous- A movie about a boy and a rock band. But it's really all about the girls.
Along Came a Spider- Morgan Freeman returns as Alex Cross in a dreary, ludicrous thriller.
Along Came Polly- Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston have absolutely no chemistry in this romantic comedy about an uptight germophobe who falls for a peasant-blouse-wearing ditz.
A Lot Like Love- Why won't small-screen superstar Ashton Kutcher's boyish charm translate to film?
A lovable pervert at your window- Weekend roundup: The noble peeping Tom hero of "Mister Foe," Truffaut's delectable Parisian noir "Shoot the Piano Player" and more.
Alpha Dog- This "based on true events" murder story may bark and bare its teeth a lot, but only Justin Timberlake has any real bite.
Always in fashion- Two French documentaries about Yves Saint Laurent showcase the legendary designer's love of clothes and the women who wear them.
- A Lynchian nightmare, a hooker grandma and more
- A man who never sleeps, Marianne Faithfull turning tricks and a poisoned Russian spy headline this week's indie releases.
Amélie- The candy-colored French hit from one of the directors of "The City of Lost Children" never lets you forget how charming it is.
A Man Apart- Yes, Vin Diesel still rocks. But you wouldn't know it from this dreary, predictable sub-"Traffic" action flick.
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony- An extraordinary new documentary traces the South African freedom struggle through its joyous, defiant music.
Amazing Grace- Not only is Michael Apted's historical drama about an anti-slavery activist lively and funny -- it stars a serious dreamboat. Huzzah!
American Dreamz- In this slick and unsettling comedy, a dimwit U.S. president tries to boost his ratings by becoming a judge on a cheesy talent show -- complete with hidden earphone.
American Gangster- Denzel Washington plays a ruthless drug kingpin and Russell Crowe the cop who wants to nail him in this jagged, messy movie.
- American Movie
- Chris Smith's film about a horror auteur with a dream would have made a great mockumentary, if only it weren't all true.
American Outlaws- This wannabe Western is a listless mess.
- American Pie
- The "unrated" version catches a teen boy and a pastry in flagrante delicious, but where are the girls?
American Pie 2- The overbaked teen sequel smothers the sweet, sexy original with crass bad-boy jokes.
American Splendor- Cult comic-book writer Harvey Pekar -- crank and peculiar optimist -- is brought to life in a remarkable narrative film that's also part animation and documentary.
American Wedding- The latest in the "American Pie" franchise is exactly the kind of movie that gives sequels a bad name.
America's Sweethearts- We want to see Julia Roberts and John Cusack together, but this mostly terrible romantic comedy forgets the part where the leads fall in love.
A Mighty Heart- This unmooring, bleakly beautiful film -- starring Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl -- gets to the essence of the unstable world we now live in.
A Mighty Wind- Christopher Guest and his "Best in Show" cohorts are back, mocking the survivors of '60s folk music in this work of sideways comic genius.
A moral "Compass- Far from exposing children to "the demonic," as some Catholics claim, "The Golden Compass" celebrates independent thinking. As a Catholic, I hope my daughter will see it.
Amores Perros- This feverish blast of filmmaking is a brutal look at the violent heart of Mexico City -- and a breakthrough work of Mexican cinema.
A murdered wife who isn't dead- Harlan Coben's beach-read bestseller "Tell No One" becomes a crackerjack thriller -- made in France.
An actress cut in two- French sex symbol Ludivine Sagnier on passion, perversion and her new film "A Girl Cut in Two." (Please, don't call it a porn movie.)
Analyze That- The mobster-shrink sequel cracks wise for 15 minutes then puts on a pair of concrete shoes and takes comedy out for a cruise.
An artistic orphan in the big city- Amir Naderi, who brought Iranian cinema to the world's attention in the '80s with the international hit "The Runner," has been making films in New York since 1993. Who knew?
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy- The '70s-era leisure suits and noisy polyester shirts aren't the only thing that's funny about this Will Ferrell flick.
And Salon's honorary Oscar goes to...- Alec Baldwin, who blew us away in not one, not two, but three movies this year alone. Someone hand that man a gold statuette!
- A new round of "Funny Games
- Michael Haneke's notorious horror film -- now remade in English, with Tim Roth and Naomi Watts -- hits Sundance.
Angel-A- This stylish story about a helpful angel come to Earth owes more to Audrey Hepburn than Jimmy Stewart.
Angel Eyes- The third movie in which a wounded Jennifer Lopez watches late-night TV alone turns into a weepy thriller without many thrills.
Angelina, Mickey Rourke and disco madness - From Clint's "Changeling" to Soderbergh's "Che" and beyond, the New York Film Festival sets the table for the fall's Oscar hopefuls, art-house maybes and wild-eyed cinematic rebels.
Anger Management- The only thing you'll be mad about is spending 10 bucks to watch Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler try too hard.
Annapolis- This trite movie about a working-class kid with big dreams is no winner, but you can't help rooting for it anyway.
An "Ordinary People" for the "Rushmore" set- Noah Baumbach, the writer-director of the Sundance-winning "The Squid and the Whale," talks about the perils of joint custody and the odd microcosm of the intellectual family.
- Anthony Minghella, 1954-2008
- Oscar-winning director of "English Patient" and other high-class literary adaptations dies suddenly in London.
AntiTrust- A clunky computer-age thriller in which geeky programmers sell out to code zillionaires -- any resemblances to the living or dead are purely coincidental.
Antwone Fisher- Denzel Washington's directing debut is a sodden if competent Oprah-cized weeper about an abused kid's triumph and the shrink who learns lessons from him.
An Unfinished Life- Robert Redford's latest is a poky, predictable picture -- and it kind of works.
- Any Given Sunday
- What could be worse than Oliver Stone's cloddish, didactic football movie? How about six more minutes and some softball interviews?
Anything Else- In Woody Allen's incredible shrinking career, this mean "romantic" comedy with Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci is his tiniest movie yet.
- A "Passion" that burns
- A grab bag of Salon's coverage of Mel Gibson's controversial film: Reviews, news and more.
Apocalypse forever- A new version and 53 extra minutes of Francis Ford Coppola's often brilliant, maddeningly incoherent war horse only illuminate the film's shortcomings.
- Apocalypse Now
- This may not be the ultimate package, but at least Coppola sheds some light on the picture's spectacular and eerie nighttime blaze.
Apocalypto- Mel Gibson's latest pretends to care about the fall of man, but it really only wants to impale, flay, disfigure and torture him. Sound familiar?
Appaloosa- Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen poke along amiably in this easygoing western.
A Prairie Home Companion- Garrison Keillor and Robert Altman gather an all-star cast to sing an ode to the good old days and an anthem for the future.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters- Fans of the culty animated TV show that inspired this movie may giggle and guffaw -- but will anyone else?
Arab-American beauty- En route from "Six Feet Under" to "True Blood," TV genius Alan Ball snuck in "Towelhead," an earnest drama about race and sexual awakening in '90s suburbia.
A reason to give thanks- Jim Sheridan's miraculous "In America," a generous but never sentimental fable of Irish immigrants in '80s New York, may be the great movie of 2003.
Are We There Yet?- Ice Cube and Nia Long do their best to rev up this family comedy, but it never quite takes off, let alone arrives.
A-Rod vs. the dueling Sherlock clones!- A new frontier in Other Woman liberation, except not. Whose next-gen Sherlock Holmes will be lamer? Plus: "Wackness" and "Tell No One" wow holiday throngs.
Around the World in 80 Days- The talents of Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan are tragically wasted in this disappointing reworking of the Jules Verne novel.
Artificial maturity- In "A.I.," Steven Spielberg continues his quest to be a real live adult. He was far greater as a real live boy.
Assault on Precinct 13- Ethan Hawke and Maria Bello may slay you in this pulpy thriller remake, but the film itself is DOA.
- A star is born (at age 51)
- As a married woman meeting her ex-lover 25 years later, Juliet Stevenson transforms a Lifetime-level middle-aged rom-com into delirious comic magic.
- A strong year for Oscar shorts
- From a devastating, Bergmanesque drama to a dreamlike train voyage and a tender Russian romance.
A suburban family in hell- In Andrew Jarecki's devastating documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," a Long Island family is torn to shreds by spectacular child-abuse charges. But who were the real criminals -- Arnold and Jesse Friedman or the cops, prosecutors and shrinks?
- At Cannes, a big win for old Europe
- Laurent Cantet's joyful, tragic "The Class" is the first French Palme d'Or winner in 21 years; Benicio del Toro named best actor for "Che."
- A thorny indie spring-ucopia!
- A mythic yet intimate yarn of Southern violence and vengeance, a haunting Russian war film, an epic saga of '60s Italy and more.
A thousand and one knights- There have been countless versions of Batman, from brooding crusader to gadget-loving detective. How does "The Dark Knight" measure up?
Atlantis- Disney's finally made a cartoon for grown-ups. What was wrong with the old ones they made for kids?
Atonement- Ian McEwan's beautiful novel comes alive on-screen in a sensitive, insightful adaptation.
Austin Powers in Goldmember- It's a mess, and a ridiculous golden shower of toilet humor. But Mike Myers' superspy spoof still provides the summer's purest movie delight.
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
- How Austin's sausage got bitten.
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
- Fat Bastard to Rob Lowe in 20 minutes of cut scenes: "You're prettier than most girls I've shagged."
Auto Focus- Greg Kinnear's brilliant performance honors the pervert star of "Hogan's Heroes" in this sordid tale of a creepy charmer's fatal descent into the fleshpots.
Autumn in New York- Who cares about old guys and young girls? This handsome romantic slop finds other problems.
A Walk to Remember- Mandy Moore stars in a squeaky-clean teen romance in which the kissing stops before things get too hot and heavy.
Awesome; I f**kin' shot that basketball movie!- The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch on his new documentary, "Gunnin' for That #1 Spot," and tomorrow's NBA superstars.
Awesome Kids' Video Project: The sequel!- As requested, the also-rans in our reader poll of family summer flicks. Also: Is this list racist? Is Hannibal Lecter right for your family? And more!
A world of spectacle- Romance from China, stasis from Iran, an epic from Korea and Dogma from Denmark dominate the year in film.
DVD Releases
- You Don't Mess With the Zohan (10/7)
- The Happening (10/7)
- The Visitor (10/7)
- Paranoid Park (10/7)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (9/30)
- Iron Man (9/30)
- Rent DVDs with Netflix
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I Like to Watch
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Bill Maher vs. the "talking snake"
By Andrew O'Hehir -
Doc Hudson vs. Che Guevara
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Critics' Picks
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"Rachel Getting Married"
By Stephanie Zacharek
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