A less effusive Shakespeare in Love rehash, Stage Beauty fails to delve into the complexities of gender and sexual identity.
Andre Soares
Andre Soares
Andre Soares is the author of Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro (St. Martin's Press; paperback: University Press of Mississippi), about the troubled gay Hollywood star (Ben-Hur, The Student Prince) who was brutally killed in 1968.
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The Oscar-nominated The Grandfather works both as a Fernando Fernán Gómez showcase and as an irresistible message movie.
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Oliver Stone opts to ignore the facts in his brazenly dishonest yet engrossing political thriller JFK, an account of the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination.
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Best Actress Oscar nominee Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence is seriously marred by its own inauthentic ‘rawness.’
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Starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, Marc Forster’s 2001 drama Monster’s Ball offers quality moments that fail to amount to a satisfying whole.
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The all-star ‘existential’ David O. Russell satire I Heart Huckabees is all but unwatchable; its notable moments actually took place behind the scenes.
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Gaping narrative issues hinder Sam Mendes’ gangster noir Road to Perdition, otherwise a great showcase for stars Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.
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Naomi Watts delivers an exceptional performance - or rather, two of them - in David Lynch’s unsettling Hollywood horror tale Mulholland Dr..
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What are the best British films of all time? Starring Michael Caine, Mike Hodges’ violent thriller Get Carter is critics’ surprise #1 choice, while women-focused titles are completely absent.
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John Cassavetes’ landmark and widely admired 1968 independent drama Faces is a narrative wreck and a long-winded cinematic chore.
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The Manchurian Candidate (2004) movie review: Meryl Streep is the one bright spot in Jonathan Demme’s stale remake of John Frankenheimer’s 1962 classic. Denzel Washington stars.
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About a Boy (2002) movie review: Chris and Paul Weitz’s moralistic ‘family’ comedy stars Hugh Grant as a self-centered dude who tragically discovers his inner family man.
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Training Day (2001) movie review: In a less showy role, Ethan Hawke effortlessly steals Antoine Fuqua’s mediocre cop thriller from Best Actor Oscar winner Denzel Washington.
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) movie review: Alfonso Cuarón’s big-screen version proves that CGI and movie magic aren’t the same thing. Daniel Radcliffe stars.
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Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) movie review: Michael Moore documentary incinerates the warmongering George W. Bush White House and members of the eagerly complicit American media.
The Alfred Kinsey scale of facts vs fiction: The life of the revolutionary and contentious American sex researcher vs Bill Condon’s well-regarded but sanitized 2004 film.
Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga’s overreaching psychological drama 21 Grams is immensely helped by 5 stellar performances.
Four news DVDs focus on Oscar-winning director George Stevens: A tribute to British colonialism; an immigration family drama; and two documentaries, one of which features rare WWII color footage.
In Old Arizona (1928) movie review: Pre-Code Western is of interest as the first ‘outdoor’ talkie and for its risqué sensibility. Edmund Lowe and Best Actor Oscar winner Warner Baxter star.