Movie Reviews

The Story: An aging, grouchy baseball scout is joined on the road by his daughter after his eyesight starts to suffer. The Lowdown: Cheesy, predictable goo with a hokey script and boring direction that’s occasionally made watchable because of Amy Adams.

In Brief: This very odd film bombed when it came out in 1940 — although it was Shirley Temple's consolation prize for not being loaned to MGM for The Wizard of Oz While it's a mixed bag, it has numerous good things in it and is consistently interesting with beautiful production values. But be warned,…

In Brief: Akira Kurosawa's brilliant but hardly subtle film version of Shakespeare's Macbeth is one of the director's strongest films — and an essential for anyone interested in Japanese cinema.

In Brief: One of the greatest of all horror films, Night of the Demon is as fresh and brilliant today as it was when it first appeared in 1957. This is a rare case of a movie where absolutely everything comes together just right: the script, the direction, the acting, the musical score. In fact,…

In Brief: Paul Verhoeven's art house classic The Fourth Man (1983) — an erotic thriller about a gay alcoholic Catholic writer who becomes besotted with the boyfriend of the woman he's staying with — holds up nicely today as a splendid — and heady — mix of mystery thriller, quasi-horror, eroticism and religious iconography (sometimes…

In Brief: It mightn't seem as striking as it did in 1966, but Alfie is the film that cemented Michael Caine as a bonafide movie star. The story, of an unregenerate Cockney lothario who starts to see the emptiness of his life, fit Caine perfectly — allowing his easy charm to segue almost effortlessly into…

The Story: A look at the last days of royalty in France as witnessed by the Queen's reader. The Lowdown: An unusual approach to a perhaps overplayed subject makes this take on the story surprisingly fresh and compelling.

The Story: A violent, mentally ill World War II vet falls in with the leader of a cult of quack science, who’s determined to cure the disturbed veteran through his teachings. The Lowdown: Brilliantly made, masterfully acted, but it's a bit too dense and seems to be missing an emotional center.

The Story: More zombie action with Milla Jovovich in a kinky outfit firing big guns. The Lowdown: More of the same as the others, though with even less plot and more noise.

In Brief: An eccentric film — or series of little films — about the equally eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. It sounds more awkward than it plays — and it does come together to offer a kind of biographical narrative, albeit a frequently playful and deliberately enigmatic one. Some of the vignettes work better than…

In Brief: One of Ernst Lubitsch's funniest, raciest and most sophisticated films stars Maurice Chevalier as a lieutenant in the Austrian army who makes the mistake of winking at his girlfriend (Claudette Colbert) just as a visiting princess (Miriam Hopkins) passes by. A misunderstanding follows that results in Chevalier having to marry the princess to…

In Brief: Bargain basement cheesy 1950s sci-fi horror of the finest kind. It's all about a tropical lost world that's somehow (don't ask) in Antarctica, and which is discovered when a group of intrepid explorers' helicopter goes down. This leaves them prey to man-eating plants, a guy in a Tyrannosaurus rex suit, a puppet sea…

In Brief: Robert Bresson's entertaining but overrated 1956 "true story" (he claims it as such) — about a man's escape from a Nazi prison in France during World War II — has the distinction of being one of the director's few profitable film, probably because it's the most accessible. The escape itself is very well-done…

The Story: A capital investment manager tries to cover a shortage until he can sell his business, all while a detective is on his trail over the car wreck that left his mistress dead. The Lowdown: Strong central performances, an intelligent script and solid professional filmmaking make this complex crime thriller compelling entertainment.

The Story: A bleak look at the entitled American man-boy — in something other than his usual rom-com confines. The Lowdown: An unfailingly bitter and grim comedy from Todd Solondz that doesn't always work, but which is rarely less than fascinating in its examination of a character we've merely come to accept without question.

The Story: The tale of what happens when a struggling writer finds a manuscript in an old briefcase and passes it off as his own. The Lowdown: Nicely made and with a good cast, but never very compelling due to a screenplay that lacks much in the way of characterization or believable drama.

The Story: When a young woman's husband is murdered, his four cohorts come looking for the fortune they believe she has. The Lowdown: A brilliantly entertaining mix of sexy romance, suspense and comedy anchored to sophisticated writing and direction with two bonafide classic movie stars, Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

The Story: Music documentary about the mysterious and little-known pop star Rodriguez who disappeared from the scene after two critically-praised, but commercially disastrous albums in early 1970s. The Lowdown: An absolutely splendid documentary that tells a true stoty of amazing improbability. Beautifully structured with a genuine dramatic arc and a lot of nice music. Don't…

The Story: A young girl becomes possessed by the demon inside an old box she buys at a yard sale. The Lowdown: Well-made, nicely acted and slick exorcism tale that — even with the unusual wrinkle of Jewish mysticism — is ultimately just another possession story.

The Story: The Oogieloves go in search of five golden baloons for the birthday party they're throwing for a throw-pillow. The Lowdown: Anyone over the age of 3 who doesn't run screaming from the theater is probably some hapless movie critic.

In Brief: Yes, Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) is one the great films — a must-see for anyone with a serious interest in film. That said, bear in mind that it's more nightmarish than uplifting -- and pretty certainly not something you'd want to see too often.