The Man in the Fred Suit
The trailers for Fred Claus that showed in theaters last Christmas pitched the movie at adults — the director of Wedding Crashers re-teaming with...
Earthly Delight
Just when you think you’ve seen every type of Hollywood family drama, along comes something nice to revitalize your faith in mainstream cinema.
Based on...
Unoriginal Gangster
The shortcomings of American Gangster are right there in the title. It’s the latest film by Ridley Scott, a director who long ago was...
Also-Ran
Of all the young, male comedic actors who have recently been in or directed movies that don’t hew to formula, Steve Carell is arguably...
Wes Bengal
A decade ago, I watched Eddie Murphy end years of crappy comedies by starring in The Nutty Professor.
Barely a year later, I witnessed Julia...
Amanda Alert
It probably didn’t happen this way, but I can easily imagine Ben Affleck in the midst of his 2003 Gigli-induced purgatory, taking time out...
Blood and Snow
Since Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published 110 years ago, doing something new with vampires in any storytelling medium has gotten to be extremely difficult.
The...
Mr. Bagman
You shouldn't be surprised that Michael Clayton is currently being overrated by America's film critics. The movie practically begs for it.
It sticks out because...
The Other Elizabeth
In 1998, an Indian director and his Australian leading lady collaborated on Elizabeth, a chilling historical drama that brought their largely unknown names to...
Blood Sausage
I’ll bet that relatively few people have ever watched a movie while sitting in one of the locations where it was shot.
That happened...
