Movie Reviews

In Brief: Nick Nolte (yes, Nick Nolte) gives a terrific performance as a heroin-addicted gambler with a gift for gab in Neil Jordan's wrongly overlooked remake — a complete re-imagining, really — of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1956 Bob le Flambeur, The Good Thief (2002). In Jordan's hands, the story becomes an even twistier neon-noir thriller about…

The Story: A depressed mother and her son take in an escaped prisoner over Labor Day weekend in 1987. The Lowdown: An overall well-crafted film with quick flashes of something more that’s too stilted, unrealistic and treacly to work.

In Brief: This minor gem from Britain's Hammer Films, though heavily promoted by images of someone in a creepy mask, is more a suspense thriller that turns horror film macabre than an outright horror film. Despite the official billing, a young (pre-scar) Oliver Reed stars in Paranoiac (1963) as a hard-drinking, deeply disturbed man who…

The Story: A really buff Frankenstein monster finds himself caught in the middle of a war between good (gargoyles) and evil (demons). The Lowdown: Utterly preposterous and by no means good, it nonetheless moves at a decent pace, but there is nothing I can recommend.

In Brief: A bright screenplay from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, sophisticated direction by the always-underrated Mitchell Leisen, a dream cast and that special luster that only vintage Paramount pictures provide come together in Midnight (1939). It's a nearly perfect soufflé of a movie about a broke chorus girl (Claudette Colobert), a helpful Parisian taxi…

In Brief: Douglas Fairbanks was determined to make the biggest and most spectacular fantasy adventure ever seen with The Thief of Bagdad (1924). With the help of director Raoul Walsh and designer William Cameron Menzies, that's exactly what he did. Sure, the 90-year-old effects aren't quite as dazzling now as they were then (though they're…

The Story: An aging trendsetter, journalist and writer takes a look at his life and the special world he lives in. The Lowdown: A great bursting Roman candle (literally) of a film, it's a grand cinematic whirlwind that's in touch with the past of Italian film but isn't embalmed by it. There is nothing like…

In Brief: It may not quite be the "X-rated action" that the film itself claims, but John Woo's Hard Boiled is certainly two solid hours of almost nonstop, hard, R-rated action. It's also a bracing reminder of how good John Woo was before he was lured to Hollywood. Yes, it's extremely violent and more than…

In Brief: Immensely silly and seldom-seen old dark house comedy horror from Great Britain that stars two popular Brit comics from the "Carry On" movies — Sid James and Kenneth Connor — as a pair of Laurel and Hardy-like characters out to claim an inheritance. It is perhaps of more interest now for the presence…

The Story: Animated kiddie flick about park animals robbing a nut shop. The Lowdown: Bland and boring, but nice to look at and mostly innocuous. Not worth the bother of sitting through, however.

In Brief: Stephen Frears has a movie up for a Best Picture Oscar — Philomena — this year, so it's apt (though coincindental) that his first big hit, My Beautiful Laundrette, should be getting another look. This multicultural, multisexuality comedy-drama-romance kicked off Daniel Day-Lewis' career and made the first mark for a production company called…

In Brief: The Lion in Winter may not be a great movie, but as an historical romp that affords the chance of seeing two champion scene-stealers — Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn — go at each other, it's undeniably entertaining. This tale of three sons and their strong-willed mother attempting to force Henry II into…

In Brief: Often overlooked because it was quickly eclipsed by King Kong (which was made on the same sets at the same time), The Most Dangerous Game (1932) is one of the most striking, grisly, sexualized and exciting horror thrillers of the Golden Age. Owing to the jungle sets, the presence of Fay Wray, Robert…

In Brief: Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer's last film is pretty much of a piece with his earlier work, which is to say it's glacially-paced, stripped down to what Dreyer felt were the essentials and will appeal to those with very specialized tastes. Nina Pens Rode stars as the title character — a middle-aged woman…

The Story: A loudmouthed security guard goes on a ride along with his girlfriend’s hard-as-nails police officer brother. The Lowdown: A poorly written, poorly executed buddy cop film with all the cliches that come along with it.

The Story: Biographical film about the relationship between Charles Dickens and his younger mistress. The Lowdown: Complex, heavily layered and textured biographical drama that also serves as a critique of the role of women in Victorian society. The only problem is that its deliberate pace will be off-putting to some.

The Story: CIA agent Jack Ryan must travel to Russia in order to foil a plot to ruin the American economy. The Lowdown: A solid, entertaining movie that does nothing great — making for a nice, if forgettable, spy thriller.

The Story: Shaky-cam, bargain basement take on the Rosemary's Baby Son o' Satan shtick. The Lowdown: Bottom-of-the-barrel horror shenanigans of the sort only January brings. Spare yourself.

In Brief: Ken Russell's 1988 horror comedy, The Lair of the White Worm, makes a return appearance at the Thursday Horror Picture Show. While it is one of the filmmaker's lighter works, it's also the Ken Russell picture that turned a lot of younger viewers onto his great films from the 1960s and 70s. It's…

In Brief: The great Lee Tracy stars in one of his best roles in The Nuisance — a fast-paced, cynical comedy (with doses of drama) about a shrewd (and none-too-honest) ambulance-chasing lawyer who has refined the business of obtaining large settlements for accident claims into a science. The fast-talking Tracy is, of course, the lawyer…

In Brief: Milos Forman's The Firemen's Ball (1967) created a good bit of stir when it was released in the U.S. late in 1968. It even earned an Oscar nomination (as had his 1966 film The Loves of a Blonde). While it's possible to understand the fuss in an historical context, it may be a…