The Fixer (movie 1968) review: Alan Bates is badly miscast in John Frankenheimer and Dalton Trumbo’s drama about anti-Jewish hate, which is ruined by its lack of subtlety.
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9 Songs’ sex scenes have not prevented the British Board of Film Classification from granting Michael Winterbottom’s romantic drama an ’18 certificate’ rating. Some are outraged.
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Lenny (movie 1974) review: A miscast and painfully unfunny Dustin Hoffman is overshadowed by a sensational Valerie Perrine in Bob Fosse’s unsatisfying Lenny Bruce biopic.
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A Hatful of Rain (movie 1957) review: Eva Marie Saint is the one standout in Fred Zinnemann’s early drug addiction drama seriously impaired by its three male leads and overall …
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Ed Wood’s long-thought (partially) lost film Necromania has been rediscovered. This groundbreaking sexually explicit supernatural tale stars Ric Lutze and Rene Bond.
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Sleepless in Seattle (movie 1993) review: Personable Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks can’t rescue Nora Ephron’s unromantic and unfunny – yet hugely successful – romantic comedy.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (movie 2003) review: Johnny Depp is flawlessly weird in Gore Verbinski’s surprisingly entertaining mega-budget romp.
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The highlight of Paramount Home Entertainment’s four new John Wayne DVDs is the long-unseen multiple Oscar-nominated ‘disaster’ blockbuster The High and the Mighty.
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Affliction (movie 1997) review: Nick Nolte delivers an overheated star turn in Paul Schrader’s well-made and great-looking but annoyingly contrived psychological drama.
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The Contender (movie 2000) review: Best Actress Oscar nominee Joan Allen delivers a masterful performance in Rod Lurie’s engrossing (if unconvincing) political drama. Jeff Bridges costars.
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Stage Beauty (movie 2004) review: A sexually confused Billy Crudup and an ambitious Claire Danes are an odd couple indeed in Richard Eyre’s bland, unsure Restoration-set dramedy.
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The Grandfather (movie 1998) review: Fernando Fernán Gómez delivers a brilliant central performance in José Luis Garci’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominee.
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JFK (movie 1991) review: Oliver Stone bypasses the facts in his dishonest yet engrossing political thriller about the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination. Kevin Costner stars.
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Monster’s Ball (movie 2001) review: Starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, Marc Forster drama offers quality moments that fail to amount to a satisfying whole. Heath Ledger costars.
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I Heart Huckabees (movie 2004) review: David O. Russell’s all-star ‘existential’ satire is all but unwatchable, as its compelling moments took place behind the scenes. Jude Law costars.
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Road to Perdition (movie 2002) review: A great showcase for stars Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, Sam Mendes’ gangster noir is derailed by gaping plot holes and abundant clichés.
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Mulholland Dr. (movie 2001) review: Naomi Watts delivers an exceptional performance – or rather, two – in David Lynch’s unsettling Hollywood horror drama. Laura Harring costars.
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What are the best British films of all time? Starring Michael Caine, the violent 1971 thriller Get Carter is critics’ surprise #1 choice, while women-centered titles are completely absent.
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Faces (movie 1968) review: John Cassavetes’ landmark and widely admired independent drama is a narrative trainwreck and a long-winded cinematic chore. John Marley stars.
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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 (movie 2002) review: Starring Hugh Grant as a self-centered guy who tragically discovers his inner Family Man, Chris and Paul Weitz’s comedy is appallingly reactionary.
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Training Day (movie 2001) 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 (movie 2004) review: Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Alfonso Cuarón’s fantasy proves that CGI and movie magic aren’t quite the same thing.
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Fahrenheit 9/11 (movie 2004) review: Michael Moore documentary incinerates the warmongering George W. Bush White House and the complicit U.S. media.
Diane English has penned and will direct The Women remake, as the 1939 all-female classic comedy is finally getting a 21st-century facelift. Meg Ryan and Annette Bening are slated to …
William A. Wellman’s experimental Western Track of the Cat is one of five new DVDs of long-unseen movies with a little-known John Wayne connection. Robert Mitchum stars.
Wonder Boys (movie 2000) review: Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire head an inadequate name cast that is not helped by Curtis Hanson’s unsubtle handling of what should have been a …
A Woman Under the Influence (movie 1974) review: John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands’ psychological drama is irreparably marred by its own fake ‘rawness.’
21 Grams (movie 2003) review: Sean Penn and Naomi Watts are two cast members who help lift Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga’s overreaching psychological drama.
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 (movie 1928) review: Starring Oscar winner Warner Baxter, Fox’s Pre-Code Western is of interest as the first ‘outdoor’ talkie and for its brazenly risqué sensibility.