Dennis the Menace (1993) After Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), John Hughes’ unparalleled decade-long success, which began in 1983 with National Lampoon’s Vacation in 1983, came to an end. His subsequent films failed to capture the magic of his earlier work and this movie, based on the long-running comic strip, is no exception. Nick Castle is… Continue reading Home Alone 2.5
Secrets don’t make friends at home or abroad
Topaz (1969) After the successful premiere of the first James Bond film, many people wanted Alfred Hitchcock to direct an entry in the series. He had a history in the spy genre with films like Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), he had a dark and subtle sense of humor, and his film’s… Continue reading Secrets don’t make friends at home or abroad
Cloning your husband in post-apocalyptic Tokyo
Husbands and Wives (1992) When Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) casually announce their marriage has ended, it forces Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy Roth (Mia Farrow) to question their own relationship. Gabe flirts with Rain (Juliette Lewis), one of his students, while Judy eyes a relationship with Michael Gates (Liam Neeson). Filmed as a… Continue reading Cloning your husband in post-apocalyptic Tokyo
Coppola’s children of the night
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) This film was woefully miscast. Gary Oldman is so compelling as Count Dracula it’s hard not to root for him, while Keanu Reeves is so wooden as Jonathan Harker it’s difficult to believe he’s the hero of the film. Outclassed by the actors around him, he’s unable to generate any interest in his… Continue reading Coppola’s children of the night
While the California fires burn, the lady in number 6 saves our lives
Let the Fire Burn (2013 film) Did you know city leaders in Philadelphia once bombed a residential apartment? How did we collectively forget one of the largest cities in the United States once decided to murder its own people? MOVE was a bizarre radical origination led by John Africa. Its members destroyed sidewalks in order to plant… Continue reading While the California fires burn, the lady in number 6 saves our lives
Dead women tell tales
Volver (2006) Three years after Soledad’s parents died in a fire, she discovers the ghost of her mother Irene while visiting her aunt Paula. When Soledad returns home, Irene’s ghost moves in with her. Meanwhile, Soledad’s sister Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) comes home to find her daughter Paula has killed her father during an attempted rape.… Continue reading Dead women tell tales
How the Austrian tried to get her groove back
Paradise: Love (2012) Teresa, a bored fifty year old Austrian housewife goes on a vacation to Kenya where she pays numerous young African men to have sex with her. Sex tourism is, unbelievably, a billion dollar a year industry; many in the poorest countries of the world depend on this business to survive, and while it is… Continue reading How the Austrian tried to get her groove back
Mexican gangstas
Narco Cultura (2013) In 2009, Forbes magazine listed notorious drug dealer Joaquin Guzman Loera as one of the richest people in the world. Mexican officials, including president Felipe Calderon, were outraged, claiming this hampered their ability to combat the drug trade engulfing large sections of Mexico by giving credibility to drug traffickers. This documentary places Forbes’… Continue reading Mexican gangstas
The grandmaster tells us stories
Stories We Tell (2012) Sarah Polley’s directorial work focuses on fractured relationships. Away from Her (2006) shows the effects of Alzheimer’s on a long-term commitment, Take This Waltz (2011) is about a young couple who experience a crisis, and her third feature film explores the brokenness in her own family. Twenty years after her mother died,… Continue reading The grandmaster tells us stories
Steve Jobs went through the celluloid looking glass to find his mom
Alice (1988) Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is the quintessential story about the uncertainty of childhood. To a child, the world is a mystery and its myriad rules often seem nonsensical; we have to learn to be rational. This odd blend of live action and stop-motion animation embraces the twisted, scary parts of Carroll’s work. … Continue reading Steve Jobs went through the celluloid looking glass to find his mom