Specter of the Rose (1946)
“My heart is dancing a minuet…in a trashcan.” –Lionel Stander, in Specter of the Rose [Author’s Note: This was another of those rare occasions when I tackled two films in a single column. This is the first half of a review which continued with Fred Schepisi’s Mr. Baseball. This note is also my excuse for […]
Little Buddha (1993)
Brahma said: “Well, after hearing ten thousand explanations, a fool is no wiser. But an intelligent man needs only two thousand five hundred.” (from William Buck’s translation of the Mahabharata) I wasn’t actually looking for a good children’s movie to review for this month’s column, but I stumbled across one anyway. Although the fact that […]
Ivanhoe (1997)
How many times have you watched a movie and wondered whether the book it was based on could possibly be as good? If you’re like me, the answer is probably “Never.” But if Walter Scott’s novel of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe’s search for redemption in a 12th century England filled with robustly pagan Saxons, arrogant […]
That Thing You Do! (1996)
[Author’s Note: The abbreviated review presented below means no disrespect to Tom Hanks’s fine film. What you’ll read below was merely the opening act for the main review. This was one of those rare occasions when I covered more than a single movie in the same column. You’ll find some further reflections on That Thing […]
The Brothers McMullen (1995)
How much money does it take to make a really good movie these days? James Cameron’s new epic, Titanic, has a budget somewhere around 180 million dollars. It’ll probably turn out okay. The last time I looked, the average budget for a major studio film was 50 million dollars. That was about a year ago, […]
Dance Me Outside (1994)
“My car is dented, the radiator steams One headlight don’t work The radio can scream; I got a sticker that says “Indian Power” I stuck it on a bumper That’s what holds my car together; We’re on a circuit of an Indian dream We don’t get old, we just get younger When we ’re […]
When Night is falling (1995)
[Author’s Note: Once in a while, I’ve had the urge to change things up for a review. This is one of those times. Anyone looking for a more traditional review of When Night is Falling can check out my comments in the Looking Back & Second Thoughts section that follows the more playful original […]
Days of Heaven (1978)
Outstanding films are usually greater than the sum of their parts. This seems obvious. When you take great acting, great cinematography, a terrific story and excellent direction, the end result is like the left side of Einstein’s famous equation: a quantum leap in energy. My choice for this month’s Seldom Seen is a paradox. It […]
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978)
First, a shameless plug. Question: What’s almost as addictive as chocolate? Answer: A really good TV series. All of you Simpsons fanatics out there know what I’m talking about. Of course, there are good chocolates and bad chocolates. The Simpsons represent the kind that your best friends give you for your birthday or at Christmas. […]
Smoke (1995)
“You never know what’s going to happen next. And when you think you know, that’s when you really don’t know. That’s a paradox.” -Auggie Wren Had lunch with any good movies lately? With most of today’s films going around flashing big wads of dough and in-your-face special effects, it’s refreshing to find one that […]