Friday, August 3 2007
Becoming Jane
Julian Jarrold's fictionalized biopic offers up big-boomy melodrama, full of broken hearts, romantic montages, and predictable plot turns.
Friday, September 15 2006
Keeping Mum (2005)
The most enjoyable portions of the film mock Mary Poppins-style children's literature, whereby a goodhearted but lost family is set aright by a no-nonsense nanny.
Friday, November 18 2005
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
It is sad, though perhaps 'realistic,' that the lesson of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is that all institutions and authority, Good or Evil, are corrupt.
Thursday, June 3 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Director Alfonso Cuarón brings to the franchise a newly inventive sensibility, and, most important, an appreciation for smart cuts and brevity, especially the requisite Quidditch scene, mercifully short, dark, and stormy.
Friday, November 29 2002
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
The cruelest of Malfoy's bigotries is directed against lovely, diligent Hermoine.
Thursday, June 27 2002
Gosford Park (2001)
It is clear about what it is, a study of affect that is also affected.
Thursday, November 15 2001
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
The makers of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' are banking on the fact that so very many people 'have' read the books, so that the confusion of those Luddites who haven't read them matters very little.
Sunday, January 1 1995
Gosford Park (2001)
It is clear about what it is, a study of affect that is also affected.
