|
Title
|
Rating
|
Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
A History of Violence
|
***1/2
|
Cronenberg makes Mortensen into one killer of a family
man... steamy too.
|
|
Broken Flowers
|
***1/2
|
Jim Jarmush’s most barbed and humorous piece yet.
|
|
Brokeback Mountain
|
***1/2
|
Gay cowboys: lush and tender, though not totally
cutting edge. Ledger delivers a breakthrough.
|
|
Capote
|
***1/2
|
Oscar nod certain for Hoffman as the fop author penning
In Cold Blood.
|
|
Crash
|
***1/2
|
Race and lives collide in LA.
|
|
Grizzly Man
|
***1/2
|
Strange guy hangs out with grizzly bears and gets
eaten.
|
|
Goodnight and G’ luck
|
***1/2
|
David Strathairn is perfect as Edward R. Morrow in
Clooney’s noirish bio-pic
|
|
Happy Endings
|
***1/2
|
Many piquant threads, one compelling drama.
|
|
Jarhead
|
***1/2
|
Gulf War drama by American Beauty director is one
compelling journey.
|
|
Last Days
|
***1/2
|
Van Sant’s Cobain portrait is haunting and offers
closure.
|
|
Murderball
|
***1/2
|
Docu on paraplegic jocks rocks.
|
|
Munich
|
***1/2
|
Haunting tale of espionage following the terror at the
72 Olympics.
|
|
Nobody Knows
|
***1/2
|
Haunting tale of Japanese orphans.
|
|
Pride and Prejudice
|
***1/2
|
Merchant-Ivory territory with a kick and Austen’s
barbed wit.
|
|
Squid and the Whale
|
***1/2
|
Literary dysfunction in 80’s NYC.
|
|
Syriana
|
***1/2
|
Riveting (and relevant) tale of international intrigue,
CIA, oil and greed.
|
|
2046
|
***
|
It’s not In the Mood, but it’s still surreal and
compelling.
|
|
40 Year Old Virgin
|
***
|
Pent up anxiety makes for uproarious humor.
|
|
Best of Youth
|
***
|
4 decades about 2 Italian brothers over 6 hours, goes
by in a flash.
|
|
Cinderella Man
|
***
|
Great "true" underdog story, lots of Oscar
pedigree, but a tad over cooked.
|
|
The Constant Gardner
|
***
|
Lots of intrigue, good acting, but as a thriller
something’s missing.
|
|
The Corpse Bride
|
***
|
Not Nightmare Before Xmas, but Burton’s tale of love
across two worlds is dead on.
|
|
Darwin’s Nightmare
|
***
|
Hellish portrait of AIDS and poverty in Tanzania.
|
|
Deep
Blue
|
***
|
Breathtaking docu about Ocean life, better than March
of the Penguins.
|
|
Dust
to Glory
|
***
|
The Baja race with a bam!
|
|
Enron: Smartest Guys
|
***
|
A harrowing chronicle of how Ken Lay and Co. ripped off
the world.
|
Hitchhiker’s Guide
|
***
|
Adams’s silly sci-fi book get a bawdy big screen
reception.
|
|
Hostage
|
***
|
Bruce Willis taps into his Die Hard persona in this LA
Cop drama.
|
|
Hustle and Flow
|
***
|
Great music in this yarn of a pimp turned rapper—better
than 50 Cent’s bio-pic.
|
|
The Island
|
***
|
Mike Bay's most cerebral thriller to date and no one's
going.
|
|
Junebug
|
***
|
Southern Discomfort.
|
|
King Kong
|
***
|
Jackson’s 3-hour remake is stunning; the great ape
steals the show.
|
|
Kung-Fu Hustle
|
***
|
Chow’s Kung-Fu spoof has kick and wit.
|
|
Lord of War
|
***
|
Stylish gunrunner yarn: provocative and alluring and
Cage is commanding.
|
|
Lords
of Dogtown
|
***
|
The birth of skateboarding in the 70’s has soul.
|
|
March of the Penguins
|
***
|
Cute, alluring and eye-opening docu about penguins.
|
|
Match Point
|
***
|
Woody makes a laugh-less drama cum murder in London.
|
|
New World
|
***
|
Malick’s take on Pocahontas is lush, hypnotic and
murky.
|
|
Old Boy
|
***
|
Hardboiled Korean spectacle about imprisonment and
revenge.
|
|
Sin City
|
***
|
Rodriguez, Miller and Tarantino’s surreal pulp noir is
a kick.
|
|
Three Extremes
|
***
|
Three macabre Asian (Korean, Japanese and Chinese)
shorts in one.
|
|
Transamerica
|
***
|
Felicity is fantastic as a woman playing a man playing
a woman; plot needs more.
|
|
The Upside of Anger
|
***
|
Joan Allen is a knock out in Binder’s booze fueled tale
of suburban dysfunction.
|
|
Walk the Line
|
***
|
Great music, great performances and one amazing love
story.
|
|
Year
of the Yao
|
***
|
Docu on the coming of Yao Ming to the NBA and America.
|
|
Wedding Crashers
|
***
|
Old School Part 2.
|
|
Batman Begins
|
**1/2
|
Bale saves Batman franchise, but the Black Knight has
yet to get his cinematic due.
|
|
Casanova
|
**1/2
|
Ledger has fun in this romp about the legendary lover.
|
|
Cheaper
Dozen 2
|
**1/2
|
Eugene Levy kicks in with Martin for more mass family
mayhem.
|
|
Coach
Carter
|
**1/2
|
Jackson plays a real life basketball coach who takes
back his alma mater.
|
|
Constantine
|
**1/2
|
Keanu tackles deamons.
|
|
Deuce
Bigelow 2
|
**1/2
|
Nastier and better than the 1st one.
|
|
Devil’s
Rejects
|
**1/2
|
Rob Zombie’s slasher homage is a cheeky, gory treat
steeped in 70’s kitsch.
|
|
Domino
|
**1/2
|
Edgy, stylish, convoluted and overindulgent thriller
about bounty hunters.
|
|
Fantastic
Four
|
**1/2
|
Cheesy FX, but plenty of character development.
|
|
Fever Pitch
|
**1/2
|
Farrelly brothers’ take on Red Sox love doesn’t have
the bite of Mary.
|
|
Four Brothers
|
**1/2
|
Boyz n the Hood director John Singleton tires his hand
at a commercial thriller.
|
|
Harry Potter 4: Goblet
|
**1/2
|
Loyal to the book, but too long. A sure delight for
ardent fans.
|
|
High Tension
|
**1/2
|
Creepy French slasher flick is riveting until the
final-and silly-twist.
|
|
Jesus is Magic
|
**1/2
|
Sarah Silverman’s comedy act is brash, funny and at times
over the edge.
|
|
Land of the Dead
|
**1/2
|
The dead get smart in Romero’s 4th Zombie
installment.
|
|
Layer
Cake
|
**1/2
|
Craig’s Bond making turn as a drug dealer in this
Snatch-like caper.
|
|
Loggerheads
|
**1/2
|
Three NC stories involving dysfunction and gay themes.
|
|
Memoirs of a Geisha
|
**1/2
|
Great camera work and lovely ladies in a bloated epic
wannabe.
|
|
North
Country
|
**1/2
|
Charlize Theron does Norma Rae Fargo style, with a
great supporting cast.
|
|
Narnia
|
**1/2
|
Amazing FX, good family fun but a dash too much of
Disney.
|
|
Proof
|
**1/2
|
Gwyneth
shines in David Auburn’s play, but it feels long.
|
|
Rebound
|
**1/2
|
Martin
Lawrence does the Bobby Knight thing as a BBall coach.
|
|
Rent
|
**1/2
|
Musical
about AIDS has some glorious moments—and some tedious ones too.
|
|
Saving
Face
|
**1/2
|
Drama
about Asian-American lesbians struggling against tradition.
|
|
Sky
High
|
**1/2
|
Instead of jocks and geeks it’s heroes and sidekicks in
HS.
|
|
Star Wars 3: Sith
|
**1/2
|
It’s over and it goes out on top. Dark and fulfilling,
but still no Empire.
|
|
Tony Takitani
|
**1/2
|
Murakami's surreal words are adapted to the screen.
|
|
Wallace and Gromit
|
**1/2
|
Fantastic claymation, charming camaraderie and humorous
wit, but too long.
|
|
War of the Worlds
|
**1/2
|
Speildberg and Cruise remake a classic and it's 1/2
good.
|
|
Wolf Creek
|
**1/2
|
Creepy serial killer in the Outback. Based on true
events, but long on conjecture.
|
|
A Sound of Thunder
|
**
|
Cheesy Dino FX, but lots of suspense in this Bradbury
adaptation.
|
|
The Aristocrats
|
**
|
One lame punch line, on raunchy joke, lots of famous
comics, few laughs.
|
|
Dark Water
|
**
|
Insipid Japan-to-Hollywood horror flick.
|
|
Flightplan
|
**
|
Jodie’s great as a harrowed mom (a la Panic Room), but
it’s a flight of nonsense.
|
|
The
Fog
|
**
|
Lame remake of a John Carpenter’s lame 1980 creep fest.
|
|
The Interpreter
|
**
|
Lots of intrigue, good acting, but this political
thriller never rises to the occasion.
|
|
In
the Mix
|
**
|
Usher’s not ½ bad in his big screen vehicle.
|
|
Into
the Blue
|
**
|
Lackluster (unofficial) remake of The Deep, a
lackluster film in its own right.
|
|
Just
Friends
|
**
|
Ugly Duckling tale is hilarious, for the 1st
half.
|
|
Madagascar
|
**
|
Animated zoo animals land on African isle, it's no
Nemo, nor is it Incredible.
|
|
Man
of the House
|
**
|
Tommy Lee Jones guards stuck up sorority girls.
|
|
Palindromes
|
**
|
Solondz’s tale about teen sex and abortion is so over
the top, it’s not edgy.
|
|
The
Ringer
|
**
|
Johnny Knoxville is tepid in this tame comedy about the
Special Olympics.
|
|
Roll
Bounce
|
**
|
Roller dance and the tragically hip 70’s. Great music,
cool ¡®fros, but it never gels.
|
|
Supercross
|
**
|
Cool motorbike stunts, predictable ho-hum plot.
|
|
Transporter
2
|
**
|
Frank’s back (in a black Audi), the plot’s
preposterous, but the action excites.
|
|
Undiscovered
|
**
|
Ashlee Simpson acts, sort of, in this clich¨¦d tale
about the evils of fame in LA.
|
|
Zathura
|
**
|
Good FX, but it ain’t no Jumanji or Polar Express (same
author).
|
|
Aeon
Flux
|
*1/2
|
Sexy, cyberpunk MTV animated series is a cheesy big
screen bomb.
|
|
The
Cave
|
*1/2
|
There's big bats in that hole, let's go down there. Why?
To make a silly movie.
|
|
Cursed
|
*1/2
|
Wes Craven’s Werewolf flop cum Christina Ricci.
|
|
Chicken
Little
|
*1/2
|
Like the Grinch, this childhood staple falls flat on
the big screen.
|
|
Saw
II
|
*1/2
|
Too much tedious background about the killer (Jigsaw),
but gore galore.
|
|
Stealth
|
*1/2
|
Hal recycled from 2001 and Biel’s bum is about all
there is in this vapor trail.
|
|
Two
for the Money
|
*1/2
|
A lame gamble on sports gambling, even Gigli looks better
on Pacino’s resume.
|
|
Underclassman
|
*1/2
|
Nick Cannon wants to be Eddie Murphy but is more
annoying than Chris Tucker
|
|
Alone
in the Dark
|
*
|
Christian Slater’s career hits the skids in this
videogame-to-film flop
|
|
|
|
|