I don’t know if James Mangold would approve of me calling Identity a horror film. He might prefer thinking of it as “psychological thriller,” but that doesn’t change the fact that in its heart of hearts, it’s not a whole lot more than a slasher picture — a pretty savvy and hugely entertaining one, but […]

The Real Cancun may purport to be a reality film, but it’s not the only “reality-based” movie opening this week. We also have Fred Schepisi’s It Runs in the Family, which slaps three generations of the Kirk Douglas family — plus one ex-wife (and that’s not to mention Michael’s brother, Joel, in an associate-producer capacity) […]

reviewed by Ken Hanke Saying that a David Cronenberg picture is strange is on a par with announcing that the Pope is Catholic. But declaring that his newest, Spider, is possibly the strangest movie Cronenberg has ever made since his introduction to commercial filmmaking (with Shivers, a.k.a. They Came From Within, in 1975) is, on […]

reviewed by Ken Hanke I’m always a little leery of movies made by actors-turned-director. Occasionally, the results can be stunning — George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. At other times, they show the strain of someone trying too hard to be “important” — Todd Field’s In the Bedroom. John Malkovich’s directorial debut lands somewhere […]

I was surprised by The Good Thief, though not because this latest offering from director Neil Jordan was good — I expected it to be at the very least interesting and worthwhile. The surprise lay in the film’s remarkable lightness of tone. After all, the story of an aging, down-on-his-luck, heroin-addicted thief-turned-unsuccessful-gambler (Nick Nolte) and […]

reviewed by Ken Hanke Andrew Fleming made his directorial debut back in 1988 with a horror picture called Bad Dreams, a title that suits my reaction to his latest offering, The In-Laws, something swell — except that Bad Dreams was a lot funnier. This pointless, witless remake of the 1979 film of the same name […]

reviewed by Ken Hanke Following hot on the heels of the abysmal A Man Apart — a film so bad that Vin Diesel may now wish he hadn’t been quite so quick to turn down that Fast and the Furious sequel — we have a new movie from director F. Gary Gray, a remake of […]

reviewed by Ken Hanke Confession: Despite stout efforts, I have yet to make it all the way through the original Matrix. This is less the fault of the film than it is that the quickest way to get my mind (usually followed by other body parts) to wander is to load up a movie with […]

The Real Cancun is, I believe, the sixth sign of the Apocalypse (the seventh comes June 13 with the release of the American Idol spawn From Justin to Kelly). I hear that Cancun was shot a scant five weeks ago, meaning that the filmmakers should have been shot six weeks ago. By now you know […]

Whoever called The Crime of Padre Almaro “one of the most controversial films ever made” doesn’t get out much. Yes, it can truly be said that the film is no valentine to the Catholic church—though its portrayal of a couple of priests and their fondness for lady friends is weak tea compared to things that […]