Contributor

Dawn of the Dead film review

When there’s no room in Hell, the dead walk to the mall. That was the message of horror master George Romero’s 1978 anti-consumerism flick Dawn of the Dead. This 2004 remake by first-time director Zack Snyder takes away a lot of the social message, and fills it instead with plenty of head-blasting zombie-killing mayhem and ….

Dial M for Murder film review

M stands for murder and also for mindfuck in this, one of Hitchcock’s best films. Based on a stage play by Frederick Knott (whose credits also include another great thriller, Wait Until Dark), Dial M For Murder includes one of the most intricate plots of any murder mystery as well as maximum amounts of Hitchcock’s ….

Die Another Day film review

Here we go again. The James Bond franchise – Hollywood’s thinnest excuse to stage elaborate set pieces, photograph scantily-clad women and decimate fleets of sexy cars – returns for its twentieth installment, the fourth with current star Pierce Brosnan. Surprisingly, the all-too-familiar formula continues to wring out passable intrigue. Die Another Day contains everything we ….

The Doors film review

I figure most of us thought The Doors was plenty of movie at 138 minutes. Little did we realize that one of Oliver Stone’s least favorably received movies would call for a two-disc DVD set with 43 minutes of deleted scenes, numerous documentary extras, and a feature length commentary track from Stone. And yet here ….

Dressed to Kill film review

Angie Dickenson isn’t the one that’s dressed to kill – she’s dressed to get killed. When she gets butchered by a razor-wielding mystery woman in an elevator, it’s up to a cop (Dennis Franz) and her shrink (Michael Caine) to figure out who offed the nymphomaniacal Angie. Oh, and Angie’s son teams up with the ….

Ed Wood film review

If you go into this biopic expecting lots of laughs, you may be disappointed. The film’s premise is the joke — that the hapless director Ed Wood, Jr., the most inept figure in the history of the creative arts, would be the subject of a hagiography. Keeping this disclaimer in mind, Ed Wood is a ….

The Final Cut film review

Is it possible for a film to have too many ideas? Anything’s possible, of course, in the realm of science fiction. By exploring an unspecified futuristic society, writer/director Omar Naim raises disturbing sci-fi conundrums in the wildly original The Final Cut. Unfortunately, he leaves the bulk of his more pressing issues in the shadows and ….

The Forgotten film review

Wrap your brain around this one. It has been 14 months since grieving mother Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) lost her son, Sam, in a plane crash that took the lives of 10 other children. She’s been seeing a psychiatrist (Gary Sinise) on a regular basis, and the shrink has helped her cope with her sadness ….

Frida film review

Year: 2002 The Life of Mexican Painter Frida Khalo Selma Hayek turns in an unforgettable performance as the Mexican bisexual feminist/painter plagued throughout her life by poor health and unrequited love. In concert with Frida’s paintings, director Julie Taymor conceives her life as a sensuous collage, with Frida forever adrift, driven in her quest for ….

Friday Night Lights film review

When the lights come on at the 20,000-seat Ratliff Stadium, the city of Odessa, Texas shuts down. Streets are deserted and stores close early so that everyone can crowd onto the sparse campus of Permian High School to cheer on their Panthers. In this small, barren town, Friday night football is bigger than life. Based ….

The Glass Shield film review

At least it sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately, the execution of the new Miramax film, The Glass Shield, a drama set in an L.A. sheriff’s station, leaves the viewer with little more than the perception that he’s just seen a movie that could have been something, but didn’t quite make it. The Glass Shield’s ….

Goldeneye film review

After six years in the freezer, Bond is back. Any 007 fan worth his salt will be aware of the fact that Timothy Dalton is out, and Pierce Brosnan is in as the U.K.’s ultimate spy. Out is Bond’s Aston Martin. In is a new BMW. Out with another actor playing "M." In with Judi ….