“You killed my master!  Now, you die!”<primal screech of rage, followed by loud slapping noises> –a very brief summary of Hong Kong martial arts cinema,

  Johnny: “And what is it what goes on in this postmodernist gas chamber? Night Watchman:  “Nothing.  It’s empty.” Johnny:  “So what is it you

First, a recommendation for those of you who don’t have small children: to fully appreciate the films talked about in this month’s review you might

“Some days it’s a good day to die; some days it’s a good day to play basketball.”—Victor Joseph Grim and grimmer.  That pretty much sums

The urchins are writhing around in the mud, Like eels playing tag in a barrel The old Sally Army sound mournful and sweet As they

Eat crow, Panio.  You rented Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter (1997) in order to bury him, and instead you’re forced to spend this entire column

Somewhere in the Kootenays.  The Mad Film Critic is alone in his study.  His graying hair spikes upward as if he’s permanently wired to a

If your face is lopsided,                     don’t blame the mirror. –Russian proverb   You can like a video store that gets you the latest Academy

Sam Lowry:  Excuse me, Dawson, can you put me through to Mr. Helpmann’s office? Dawson:  I’m afraid I can’t sir.  You have to go through

“While the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the

The kingdom of childhood.  I’ve no idea where that expression first appeared, but it sprang to mind anew as I watched Jacques Doillon’s Ponette (1996).

“vibrant but sometimes grotesque autobiographical story” “a vapid, vertiginous farrago” “everything from satyriasis to eschatology in a series of verbal grands jetés” “bite and bravado