Archive for May, 2001

Films Review July

BEYOND SUSPICION (R)

Released theatrically under its original title “Auggie Rose,” “Beyond Suspicion” marks an auspicious debut for director Matthew Tabak, who has created a fascinating character study disguised as film noir. Read the rest of this entry »

Charlie’s Angels

What do you call a movie that is a spoof of a television series that was a spoof of a film series that in itself had become a spoof? I don’t care what else you call it, but the big screen version of “Charlie’s Angels” is bad, real bad, and not bad in a good sort of way. Read the rest of this entry »

Freddy Versus Jason

Reiterating the old adage that it’s impossible to keep a good monster down, “Freddy Versus Jason” resurrects 1980s horror icons Freddy Krueger of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and Jason Voorhees of “Friday the 13.” Missing in action is Michael Myers of “Halloween,” but he’s under contract to another studio. Read the rest of this entry »

BACK TO THE FUTURE

After a weaker than normal spring, all bets are on the upcoming slate of summer movies. Beginning with the release of Universal’s “The Mummy Returns” on May 4, the summer of 2001 looks to set another box office record. Hollywood number crunchers always begin the season like Chicken Little, afraid the sky is falling.
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Buffalo Women of the Un-Dead

What do you get when you cross one of Korea’s most noted directors, a runaway ox cart filled with a bevy of Hollywood starlets, a long-forgotten Native American myth, and a $225 million budget? If the end result is “Buffalo Women of the Un-Dead,” the answer is a big stinking pile of manure. “Buffalo Women” is a prime example of how so much can go so wrong when Hollywood becomes enamored with the latest foreign wunderkind. Read the rest of this entry »

And then there were none

Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians” has been turned into a movie more than once, but nothing can touch Rene Clair “And Then There Were None.” The infamous French director has assembled an all- star cast to tell Christie’s gripping tale of ten strangers who have been summoned by a mysterious host. While the story may be familiar (I’ve seen at least ten variations, including Neil Simon’s affectionate spoof “Murder by Death“), Clair and screenwriter Dudley Nichols manage to create suspense and tension nonetheless. Read the rest of this entry »

Films Review May

AFTER THE STORM (R)

Adventure on the high seas finds Benjamin Bratt as a scavenger on the run, who agrees to act as a courier for a rich tycoon. Great job if you can get it, but all hell breaks loose when a violent storm sends the tycoon’s yacht and its contents to the bottom of the ocean. Read the rest of this entry »

Films Review May

ADVENTURES OF ICABOD & MR. TOAD (G)

Even though it’s two central stories, “The Wind in the Willows” and “Th Legend of Sleepy Hollow” have been released as short subjects on video, this is the first time that Walt Disney’s 11th Animated Masterpiece “The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. Toad” has been released as a feature. Read the rest of this entry »

Evelyn

Anyone who has ever lost a child to the welfare system knows the frustration and bewilderment of trying to get them back. In extreme cases, the children are better off, but the system does make mistakes, unjustly separating families who are nothing more than victims of circumstance. Read the rest of this entry »

From Dusk Till Dawn

One of writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s early screenplays is revived by director Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado”) and turned into an all-out feeding frenzy of ultra-violence, vampires, and charismatic characters. Tarantino co-stars with George Clooney as the infamous Gecko brothers. Read the rest of this entry »