Movie reviews

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

Reds (1981)
Look up Warren Beatty’s Reds (1981) in just about any guidebook to movies and somewhere in the review you’ll find the word “epic.” This undoubtedly

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
I am really sorry about this. I mean it. You see, I just didn’t know. It was only after I’d done the notes for this

Let Him Have It (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLCSvfRrleM I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning. —Stevie Smith In 1953, in London, England, a young man

The Magic Flute (1975)
“Somehow he [Mozart] managed to make this preposterous bit of humbug the most profound of all his operas….In the most dazzling feat of his career,

Into the West (1992)
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t choose a word such as “gritty” to describe a children’s film. This is not an adjective that sits well with Disney, or