The Chicago-based filmmaker Steve James rose to prominence in 1994 with Hoop Dreams, a gritty, uncomfortably intimate portrait of two inner-city... More>>
Edward Burns rounds up the all-stars and small-stars for a Confidence game
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 24, 2003
In Confidence, Edward Burns plays Jake Vig, a con artist whose body temperature runs a few degrees below normal. Even when things seem to go bad,... More>>
Identity looks scary, plays funny and might be genius for it
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 24, 2003
You can't be sure what to make of Identity for its first hour: Director James Mangold's first foray into the horror genre plays so much like a... More>>
Unlike John Nash, Spider sees little triumph over schizophrenia
By Bill Gallo,
April 24, 2003
Director David Cronenberg has led his loyal fans down some pretty spooky corridors, including the telepathic netherworld of Scanners, the violent... More>>
At last, the USA Film Festival is back under the influence
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 24, 2003
It had become sport in recent years to dismiss the USA Film Festival for what it wasn't rather than what it was becoming. No, it is not a South... More>>
Wind bags a few charming laughs, but mostly meanders
By Gregory Weinkauf,
April 17, 2003
Just to admit this up front, my ideal concept of musical comedy involves Bryan Adams and Dave Matthews garroting each other onstage with their... More>>
When bad things happen to good kids, their Luck always holds
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 17, 2003
Better Luck Tomorrow, about Asian-American high-schoolers making good grades but up to no good, arrives with the furor (albeit minor--a rumpus,... More>>
In these Holes lives a wry, thrilling kids film (for adults, too)
By Bill Gallo,
April 17, 2003
The Harry Potter phenomenon--on the page, in the movies, at the bank--has aroused in publishers and studio heads alike a sudden new appreciation... More>>
Robert Duvall's vanity project Assassination Tango wastes his time and ours
By Luke Y. Thompson,
April 10, 2003
In 1997's The Apostle, Robert Duvall took on a subject near and dear to his heart: Southern Pentecostal preachers. No one would make the film for... More>>
Neil Jordan and Nick Nolte pull off a twitchy Gallic heist
By Gregory Weinkauf,
April 10, 2003
Imagine a large, dead Saint Bernard with its bones removed. Then visualize a hefty bellows inserted into it from behind, with a gorilla hopping... More>>
When the boyfriend passes away, Morvern Callar may play
By Andy Klein,
April 10, 2003
The title Morvern Callar may sound like an Edward Gorey book or a job designation for telephone solicitors, but it's actually a name--pronounced... More>>
A writer helps a New York City fireman mourn his Guys
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 03, 2003
The Guys is a simple movie about an overwhelming thing: grief suffered in the shadow of September 11. It has a small cast, but the camera stares... More>>
Colin Farrell's stuck in a Phone Booth. Shoot, already.
By Robert Wilonsky,
April 03, 2003
A man, peering through the scope of a sniper's rifle muffled by a silencer, holds hostage someone he considers an evildoer. They communicate via... More>>
Oh, look--another bad John Travolta movie. How original.
By Robert Wilonsky,
March 27, 2003
Couldn't believe they were going to release Basic before bombs started falling over Baghdad; if it isn't the worst movie of 2003 I've watched,... More>>
In Laurel Canyon, a little erotic temptation proves good for the soul
By Luke Y. Thompson,
March 27, 2003
When you see a glamorous movie star like Kate Beckinsale tying her hair back and wearing glasses, it's surefire shorthand that she's an uptight... More>>
Gurinder Chadha scores with a sporty crowd-pleaser
By Gregory Weinkauf,
March 27, 2003
It was only in 1967 that Great Britain struck from its jurisprudence the "common scold," essentially a crime of catty insolence for which the... More>>
Would-be auteur Mars Callahan stumbles on a Rocky road
By Andy Klein,
March 20, 2003
Once upon a time, a scuffling actor named Sylvester Stallone decided that the key to stardom was to write a screenplay as a perfect vehicle for... More>>
There's more to Stephen King's Dreamcatcher than will fit in its confusing adaptation
By Andy Klein,
March 20, 2003
Lawrence Kasdan directs and co-writes (with William Goldman) Dreamcatcher, the latest addition to the Stephen King adaptation genre, currently at... More>>
