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One of the questions I am frequently asked by e-mail is "What is your favorite comedy?" In a horse race that's almost too close to call, I have decided upon A Fish Called Wanda, followed closely by The Life of Brian, then Monty Python and the Holy...

Each of the three "official" Monty Python movies has its own distinguishing quality. The first, 1975's Monty Python and The Holy Grail, is arguably the funniest and (in some ways) the silliest. The last, 1983's The Meaning of Life, is the most un...

Moonraker is a sort of James Bond meets Star Wars. Released in 1979, the year that saw the arrival of Star Trek on the big screen, Moonraker was the latest film to latch onto the science fiction revival started by George Lucas' 1977 picture. ...

The problem with Mr. and Mrs. Smith is that it's really two movies in one. The first is a sly comedy/thriller worthy of Hitchcock, and the other is a big, noisy summer action flick. The marriage of these two, like that of the title characters, is...

Mr. Brooks is a curious mix of the campy and the intelligent, of high concept and low psychology. In spite of these contradictions, or perhaps because of them, it works. This is a tense and engaging thriller, the kind of movie where the audience m...

Mrs. Brown is a love story much in the same vein as Carrington in that it deals with platonic affection that runs deeper and truer than that of the motion picture staple romantic variety. These days, it seems that whenever we see a male/female...

A film of uncommon depth, intelligence, and sensitivity, Munich defies easy labeling. Watching the movie is like reading a top-notch espionage thriller by Le Carre or Deighton. Yet, at the same time, this is a visual experience. The moral and ethic...

What do Alistair Sim, Albert Finney, George C. Scott, Jim Carrey, Patrick Stewart, Bill Murray, and Michael Caine (among others) have in common? They have played the part of Ebenezer Scrooge in an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas C...

On the way to New York City, James Nashe (Mandy Patinkin) stops by the side of the road to offer a lift to a beat-up and bedraggled stranger. This man turns out to be Jack Pozzi (James Spader), a professional gambler. As the two get to talking, P...

Must Love Dogs is a product - a pre-packaged, easily-digestible motion picture designed with one particular audience in mind. You know the kind of film. You have seen it before, usually with names like Nancy Myers or Nora & Delia Ephron involved....