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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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.
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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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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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Toronto Film Festival awards: This year’s People’s Choice Award winner was Terry George’s Rwandan Genocide drama Hotel Rwanda. Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo star.
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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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Venice Festival awards: The Golden Lion went to the British abortion drama Vera Drake, angering Italian nativists rooting for a local Gianni Amelio drama starring Kim Rossi Stuart.
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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.
War-related movies were the clear favorites at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where Lifetime Achievement honors went to Hollywood celebrities Woody Allen and Annette Bening.
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.