Film Fetish News

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 ….

The Gospel film review

Year: 2005 The Gospel is about a man (Boris Kodjoe); a secular music star that returns to his father’s church after his father falls ill. Now before I begin my critique, can anyone tell me if I’ll go to Hell for giving a religious film a bad review? Damn. Ok, well, I better not be ….

The Matrix Reloaded film review

In 1999, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) uttered memorably, "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is." In 2003, no one needs to be told, because everyone fully knows what the Matrix is. The idea of the Matrix has entered the popular lexicon. Magazines, with utter seriousness, create polls asking whether readers think we are ….

The Matrix film review

What many people forget when comparing The Matrix to its own sequels (or the Star Wars prequels, or any other maligned sci-fi epic) is that this 1999 original has bad dialogue too. In fact, search the entire trilogy for a line more cringe-inducing than “Buckle up, Dorothy, ‘cause Kansas is going bye-bye,” spoken by poor, ….

Killer of Sheep film review

Year: 1977 Killer of Sheep was so far ahead of its time 30 years ago when it was made, and it’s just as stunning and relevant today. This simple film presents a realistic portrayal of African American urban living, at a time when most images of African Americans on screen were defined by sex and ….

I Heart Huckabees film review

In David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, everyone talks a little bit like they’re in a play – the dialogue is unusually dense and abstract for a film, even an artsy one, even an “existential comedy,” as this one purports to be. Huckabees is like a screwball comedy filtered through a student thesis project, but ….

Independence Day film review

Year: 1996 Independence Day marks the glorious realization of what, for me, has been a nearly 25 year wait. Countless prayers have gone unanswered, but on this day, I have finally witnessed on screen what I have only dreamt of all my life, for this film features the complete and total destruction of the city ….

In Time film review

(Reviewed as part of the Short Film Competition at Sundance 2005) In Time is a short film about a modern day African family living in the U.S. It’s based around a mother and her two daughters. One of the daughters is engaged to be married to a young man from their native country. The mother, ….

Into the Wild film review

Year: 2007 Who is Alexander Supertramp? He is a mythological figure who brought enlightenment to all he touched. Who is Alexander Supertramp? He walked among us and synthesized his pain into energy. Who is Alexander Supertramp? Christopher McCandless asked himself that same question everyday. The film Into the Wild is so amazingly brilliant, I left ….

The Ipcress File film review

Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), disgraced army sergeant and reluctant spy, heads off on his most renowned adventure in The Ipcress File, wherein a bunch of scientists are kidnapped, then summarily returned – brainwashed. Harry fights the baddies and his own internal bureaucracy as he gets to the bottom of the matter, ignoring authority and cooking ….

Jaws film review

"You’re gonna need a bigger boat." It was the beast that launched a thousand monster movies. It was the film that sparked Spielberg’s fame. The low strings on the soundtrack still strike terror in the hearts of millions. It has some of the most memorable lines of dialogue in the history of the movies. It’s ….