CONTENDER, THE (R)

Fireworks ignite in this delicious political thriller that features top notch performances and tight, taut writing and directing. Joan Allen delivers a fiery performance as Laine Hanson, a Democratic nominee for the Vice President slot. As the first woman picked to hold the coveted job after the sitting Vice President dies, Laine comes to the table with a fierce, independent spirit. Read the rest of this entry »

Something fowl is happening on the Tweedy Chicken Farm, and the hens don’t like it. Birds of a feather may flock together, but the ingenious stars of “Chicken Run” have something more daring in mind. Thanks to the pluck of one hen named Ginger, the chickens are about to stage one of the most daring escapes since Steve McQueen jumped his motorcycle over a fence in “The Great Escape.” Read the rest of this entry »

All roads lead home, so it’s not surprising that filmmaker Woody Allen returns to his roots 31 years after he wrote and directed “Take The Money And Run.”

His latest, “Small Time Crooks,” is a reflective comedy that proves everything old is new again. With the daft assurance of his earlier work and the bold strokes of his recent, “Small Time Crooks” emerges as the perfect Woody Allen film for the new millennium. Read the rest of this entry »

Otto (Emilio Estevez) is having a bad day. No, make that a very bad day. He loses his job as a grocery store clerk and his girlfriend, and just when he thinks his life can’t get any worse, he runs into a repo man named Bud (Harry Dean Stanton). With nothing to lose, Otto accompanies Bud on a job, and finds himself a member of an elite group of men. Eccentric is more like it. Read the rest of this entry »

Even though “Mystic River,” Clint Eastwood’s twenty-fourth film as a director, takes on water at the end, the journey remains a memorable experience. Based on Dennis Lehane’s page-turner, “Mystic River” benefits from a faithful, intelligent and involved screenplay by Brian Helgeland, whose keen knowledge of police and procedurals earned him an Oscar for “L.A. Confidential.” Read the rest of this entry »

Movies set inside crippled submarines are always ripe for drama. The very thought of being trapped inside a high-tech sardine can, hundreds of feet below the surface, gives me the willies. I would feel like Donald Pleasance’s character in “Fantastic Voyage,” so desperate to get out that I would lose all touch with the reality of the situation. Read the rest of this entry »

After enjoying the antics of “Analyze This,” what better time to reacquaint myself with another great mob comedy, “Prizzi’s Honor.” Has it really been 14 years since director John Huston unleashed this outrageous comedy on us? Read the rest of this entry »

Even though “Rushmore” is set in the present, the film has the feel of old school. Set in an elite boys academy in Texas, “Rushmore” is filled with remembrances of things gone by. The soundtrack is lined with songs from the 1960’s British Invasion, while the look and feel of the Academy, it’s students and the small town it’s located in all recall a quieter, simpler time. Read the rest of this entry »

As I was watching David O. Russell’s “Three Kings,” I said to myself: “Oh my God, someone has remade Kelly’s Heroes.” Indeed, “Three Kings” and “Kelly’s Heroes” are the same movie. They just take place during different wars. Read the rest of this entry »

After honing his skills as a filmmaker on the scrambled Japanese spy thriller “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?“, writer-director- actor Woody Allen delivered his first feature film, a pseudo-documentary about inept criminal Virgil Starkwell. While it doesn’t rank with his best, “Take the Money and Run” is still a laugh-filled exercise in silliness. Working from a clever (and joke filled) script by Mickey Rose and himself, Allen finds plenty of humor in this tale of one man’s attempt to leave his criminal past behind in order to share the love of winsome laundress Louise (Janet Margolin). Read the rest of this entry »