Monday, April 19 2004
The Gods Must be Crazy I & II (1980/1988)
The documentary Journey to Nyae Nyae considers the films' consumption in the West, as they made N!xau a star and raised anthropological interest in the Bushmen.
Monday, April 12 2004
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Laced with screwball comedy and high-speed action, the film encompasses more complex themes than the usual sugarcoated 'spirit of Christmas'.
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
The circus crew is depicted as a cross between Santa's Workshop and the U.S. Army; they are impossibly virtuous, toiling endlessly for the delight of children.
Monday, April 5 2004
Just One of the Guys (1985)
Just One of the Guys is worth repeated viewing, especially for Hyser's hilarious and charismatic performance.
Monday, March 29 2004
The Vampire Effect (Chin gei bin) (2003)
The device aptly serves as metaphor for the risk currently facing Hong Kong cinema, namely, the pursuit of the global mainstream.
The Spook Who Sat By the Door (1973)
It remains one of the few uncompromised representations of black armed resistance in the United States.
Monday, March 22 2004
Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Something's Gotta Give is best when it backs off the cute dialogue and the actors create their own moments.
Beyond Borders (2003)
The truth is shifty throughout Beyond Borders, primarily because its fiction is filtered through Sarah's eyes.
Monday, March 15 2004
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Berkley-educated, Katherine is a 'forward thinker,' a 'bohemian' who believes that education opens doors.
Morvern Callar (2002)
Morvern is a puzzle the film picks at but never quite solves, the focus of its probing but also respectful attention.
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1973)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon transcends its Catholic specificity to find spiritual truth through humility.
Monday, March 8 2004
Space Is the Place (1974)
If the film is the definitive model of where blaxploitation intersects with sci-fi, as it has so often been regarded, then 2003 was an appropriate year for its return.
Monday, March 1 2004
The School of Rock (2003)
'I'm always going 10 miles too far over the top, and sometimes I have a tendency to go crazy ham and cheese,' says Jack Black.
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Far too vast to be linear or inclusive, the Godzilla story is actually a lot of stories, many of them contradictory.
Annie (1982)
She may have been a multimedia moppet, skipping from comic strip to radio to Broadway, but Little Orphan Annie is no movie star.
