Search for 2009

Feelings of déjà vu while watching The Box are understandable (perhaps inevitable), with the movie evoking memories of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits TV episode. Such similarities are not coincidental; the author of the source material, Richard...

It is said that films are not made about fully functional families because their stories are inherently uninteresting. The Boys Are Back shows that dysfunction doesn't necessarily equate to compelling. There's nothing terribly wrong with this lei...

This movie gave me a headache. Okay, maybe that's an unfair charge to lay at its feet but the fact is that when I walked into the theater, I was fine and when I walked out I had a throbbing pain between my temples. And Bride Wars is the kind of m...

It's amazing how many 19th century authors have received motion picture treatments of their lives - in fact, it may be fair to say that more modern-day movie-goers are seeing their screen stories than are reading their printed works. Bright Star c...

Perhaps Almodovar and film noir simply don't mix. This is the second time in three films the acclaimed Spanish director has attempted to apply his unique style to a twisty mystery and, as was the case with Bad Education, it's not a marriage made i...

Brothers is arguably the most successful remake of a foreign film since Martin Scorsese reworked Infernal Affairs into The Departed and won the Oscar. By remaining rigorously faithful to Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish feature, Brodre, screenwriter Dav...

Bruno allows Sacha Baron Cohen to bring another member of his rogues' gallery of misfits to the big screen. This is a worthy successor to Borat and employs the similar tactic of exploiting the stupidity, ignorance, and prejudice of Americans as a ...

Cairo Time is about yearning and longing. It's about the bond of intimacy that can be generated by a look and expanded upon by a smile. It's about an impossible love that is never spoken of or openly acknowledged. Aside from a fleeting, stolen k...

Perhaps Michael Moore missed his calling. He could have been a preacher. And not any kind of preacher - a fire-and-brimstone, Jonathan Edwards sort. His movies ooze passion and come across like two-hour sermons. He doesn't just believe in what h...

To Western audiences, Chandni Chowk to China will seem much like any Bollywood movie would seem: a rather astonishing mess. Like the cinematic equivalent of someone appearing on Mr. Blackwell's Ten Worst-Dressed list, the movie is a garish mix of ...