Search for 2001

Perhaps it takes the passage of time to gain the perspective to call some films great. Certain movies, despite being ridiculed upon their initial release, have been "re-discovered" years later and labeled as forgotten classics. It's a universal t...

At the time of its 2001 release, expectations were high, perhaps unreasonably so, for A.I., the first – and only – movie to bear the monikers of cinematic heavyweights Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg. Yet, while A.I. is consistently i...

Ali, Michael Mann's attempt to chronicle ten pivotal years in the life of former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammed Ali, suffers from the most common ailment of motion picture biographies – trying to do too much in a limited time. While Al...

Here's one important rule about film criticism and review writing: the harder you have to think to find something noteworthy or laudable about a motion picture, the less likely it is to get a recommendation. So, although there are some things to ...

Years ago, while watching Delicatessen (in 1992) and The City of Lost Children (in 1995), I wondered which of the co-directors, Jean-Pierre Jeunet or Marc Caro, was more responsible for the films' quirky tone and striking visual style. Although Ca...

In the case of American Pie, more is less. As in less funny, less sexy, and much, much less enjoyable. This sequel, like so many that have preceded it this year, exists exclusively because its forerunner made a lot of money - and the lack of insp...

What would summer be without a new animated spectacle from Walt Disney Pictures? In recent years, the arrival of warm weather in the Northern Hemisphere has augured the coming of the latest feature-length animated saga from the mega-corporation th...

A Beautiful Mind is a beautifully written, effectively acted, and meticulously crafted effort that is likely to remind many viewers of a simple axiom: a movie doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be compelling. Originality is a prized commodity beca...

When one speaks of cultural relevance, some movies capture it in the moment (oftentimes dating the production in the process). Others grasp it as if looking in a rearview mirror. But there’s a small group, either through clairvoyance or happenst...

1998's Saving Private Ryan introduced a new era of war movies. Gone are the bloodless tales of gallantry which portrayed the battlefield as a place where the fruits of bravery are victory. Replacing them are stories steeped in the gritty reality ...