Search for Harris

American Gangster is compelling in the same way that many mob-related motion pictures are compelling, but it fails to achieve the greatness that the best of them attain. The problem with American Gangster may be that it tries to hard to provide bal...

One of the most evident signs of the shift in movie-goers' tastes over the years has been the decline of the Western. Once among the most popular of film genres, it now ranks near the bottom. If there's a benefit to this downturn, it's that mode...

Watching The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola's exploration of today's "celebrity culture," is an uncomfortable - bordering on unpleasant - experience. The problem isn't the depiction of the underside of America's celebrity obsession but the manner in whi...

As a dramatic exploration of the political wrangling that occurs behind-the-scenes when the College of Cardinals meets to elect a new pope, Conclave is compelling and intriguing. As an opportunity for a group of top-notch actors to showcase their ...

While watching Disney's Dinosaur, with all of its incredibly rendered creatures and seamless blending of animated objects with real backgrounds, a question occurred to me: In movies like this, can the writing keep pace with the technology? Films ...

Entanglement takes some un-romantic concepts and cleverly uses them to form the skeleton of an appealing romantic comedy. With doses of magic realism (animated deer, jellyfish in a pool) providing icing on a cake assembled using layers of Jun...

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is being sold as the latest PG-13 horror movie, albeit one that deals with demonic possession instead of ghosts. In reality, however, it's a courtroom drama with a twinge of the supernatural (most of which occurs during fl...

With next year's Oscar nominations set squarely in its sights, Finding Forrester arrives in theaters at the right time of the year (December) with the right kind of star power (Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin) and the sort of feel-good...

Alfred Hitchcock used the term "refrigerator movie" to describe certain films. According to the great director, refrigerator movies are well-paced thrillers that work effectively while being watched, but fall apart upon later examination (whil...

The Ghost Writer is a reminder that, regardless of his real-life problems, Roman Polanski can still craft compelling thrillers. This isn't Chinatown, but it doesn't need to be. Based on the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris, it's a fictional tale ...