Articles tagged "maria bello"

Film Review

Downloading Nancy

by Cynthia Fuchs

[5.Jun.09] :. In Downloading Nancy, no one listens much to what Nancy has to say.

Recent Film reviews

Film DVD Review

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

by Christel Loar

[1.Feb.09] :. I've never been so eager to skip past the story to get to the special features.

Recent DVD reviews

Short Ends and Leader

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

by Bill Gibron

[13.Dec.08] :. If aspirations and ambitions were all it took to make a good movie (or at the very least, a merely entertaining one), there’d be no reason for critics. We lowly members of a dying print and...

Short Ends and Leader

Film Review

Towelhead

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Sep.08] :. As viewers of Towelhead must know (and Jasira, eternally ripe and optimistic, will never know), the future has only become more constricted.

Recent Film reviews

Short Ends and Leader

Girl Gone Child: The Trouble with ‘Towelhead’

by Bill Gibron

[11.Sep.08] :. There is a fine line between illustration and exploitation. Put another way, there’s a clear delineation between drama and dreck. Dress it up any way you want, but penetration turns the...

Short Ends and Leader

The PopMatters Fall 2008 Movie Preview Feature

Talk, Talk, Talk: September 2008

by Bill Gibron

[9.Sep.08] :. From wars both past and present to a number of nail-biting thrillers, September is sizing up as a potentially profitable one.

The PopMatters Fall 2008 Movie Preview

Permanent Midnight

by B. J. Carter

[4.Aug.08] :. Essentially a collection of wild anecdotes from real-life television writer Jerry Stahl, this is designed to impress rather than express.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

by Cynthia Fuchs

[1.Aug.08] :. Amid all the poorly edited, atrociously written tumult, the silly CGI and the tragic misuse of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, Rick remains an appealing throwback hero.

Corpse Grinding

by Bill Gibron

[31.Jul.08] :. It’s never pleasant when something that was lightweight (albeit cheesy) and fun is forced into profit sharing mode. Put another way, when a franchise has to jerryrig its purpose in order to...

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: August 2008

by Bill Gibron

[1.May.08] :. Talk about a crowded schedule. There are more offerings scheduled this month than in the previous two combined.

Shattered

by Jake Meaney

[28.Feb.08] :. Come for the Brash Young Ad Exec getting his come-uppance from Mysterious Sinister Stranger, but stay for the extras.

The Jane Austen Book Club

by Cynthia Fuchs

[28.Sep.07] :. The movie abandons any aspiration to Austen's wit or social critique, and lapses instead into total triteness.

Flicka (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[24.Oct.06] :. The movie takes Katy's view of the world, soliciting your sympathy for even her not-so-smart decisions.

World Trade Center (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[9.Aug.06] :. While the survivors lie within this well of shadows and shards, the film shows tv viewers around the world, briefly united in horror and incredulity, watching iconic CNN footage.

The Sisters (2005)

by Courtney Young

[7.Aug.06] :. Hope, delayed. A painful, poignant adaptation of everyday life.

A History of Violence (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[23.Sep.05] :. This slippage between myth and realism, or maybe expectation and consummation, is precisely the genius of A History of Violence.

Coyote Ugly: The Unrated Extended Cut (2000)

by Will Harris

[6.Jul.05] :. Melanie Lynskey, despite being underused in the film, says more with a couple of gestures and expressions than anyone else does with dialogue.

Sam the Man (2000)

by Nikki Tranter

[24.Feb.05] :. If Sam the Man didn't tackle some difficult relationship questions so perceptively, its horrible lead and crappy lighting would have sunk it.

Silver City (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[2.Feb.05] :. Dickie Pilager embodies U.S. political-corporate mythology, the 'shining city on a hill' reduced to basic elements.

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[21.Jan.05] :. What still works is the edgy distrust-into-respect that develops between the killer and the cop.

Silver City (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[17.Sep.04] :. It's easy to make assumptions about a political candidate named Dickie Pilager.

Secret Window (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[3.Aug.04] :. 'Johnny's look,' says director David Koepp, 'mostly came from Johnny'.

Secret Window (2004)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[11.Mar.04] :. The foremost asset of this Stephen King adaptation is the wondrous Johnny Depp.

The Cooler (2003)

by Jesse Hassenger

[11.Dec.03] :. The Cooler is interested in the nature of luck, be it a product of destiny or psychology.

Auto Focus (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[18.Mar.03] :. 'Auto Focus' is, as its title suggests, about self-interest and -obsession.

Auto Focus (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[24.Oct.02] :. Paul Schrader's 'Auto Focus' is, as its title suggests, about self-interest and -obsession.

Duets (2000)

by Amy Sidwar

Duets exposes the frustration of the 'American Dream', when working hard only makes you tired.

Coyote Ugly (2000)

by Cynthia Fuchs

The girls are less reduced to t&a than they are passionately independent, passably intelligent, and definitely not taking any shit from their over-stimulated male bar patrons, whom one 'coyote' describes as having 'little toddlers in their pants.'"