Even though director Alexander Payne’s “Election” is set in modern times, it struck such a familiar cord with me that I couldn’t help being transported back to my high school days. Darkly comic and scathingly funny, “Election” manages to nail the proverbial high school experience on the head. Read the rest of this entry »

Desperate to shed the nice boy image that catapulted him to stardom in “Breaking Away,” actor Dennis Christopher turned to director Vernon Zimmermann’s quirky black comedy “Fade to Black.” Indeed, “Fade to Black” was as far from the sunny outlook of “Breaking Away” that Christopher could get without doing snuff or porno. Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Costner must feel like Garrett Morris’ Saturday Night Live character Chico Escuela: Baseball has been very, very good to me.

Good? Let’s talk great. Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, For Love of the Game, and now The Upside of Anger, in which the guy with the All-American good looks and home run smile plays a former baseball star now trying to score off the field. Read the rest of this entry »

Tales of family disintegration have been around since man first threw Mammoth blood on a cave wall. This devolution has been the basis of great literature, inspiring everyone from Shakespeare to Sontag. Dysfunctional families serve as reminders how fragile and vulnerable love and relationships can be, and their presence in movies allow us to look into the window without fear. Read the rest of this entry »

Even though director Alexander Payne’s “Election” is set in modern times, it struck such a familiar cord with me that I couldn’t help being transported back to my high school days. Darkly comic and scathingly funny, “Election” manages to nail the proverbial high school experience on the head. Like high school itself, sometimes it hurts. Read the rest of this entry »