ReelViews for R movies

Let me start with a disclosure: I have not read the Alex Garland novel upon which The Beach is based, so I'm not in a position to discuss firsthand whether or not it butchers its source text (according to some reports, it does). The film represen...

There can be a lot of power in stories about addiction: the power to dishearten, the power to frustrate, and (on rare occasions) the power to uplift. Regardless of the substance at the core of the disease, movies about addiction follow a famil...

When a murderous rampage occurs involving a high school or college-age perpetrator, the initial spotlight shines upon the killer. The usual questions - notably "Why?" - are asked. Inevitably, others, especially the parents, will be pulled into the...

Put this one squarely in the “guilty pleasure” category. And keep in mind that if you can’t be entertained by a thirteen-year old girl ruthlessly dispatching evil-doers in ways that will make a horror film fans tingle with glee, this may...

When I think of a “Jason Statham movie,” I think of The Transporter. Or Crank. Or The Mechanic – all relatively mindless (but enjoyable) thrillers that understood the appeal of their deadpan leading man: his ability to give and take physical ...

Memory: it's an integral element to our definition of who we are. In our lives, most of us forget far more than we remember, but our ability to recall events, faces, and names forms the building blocks of our identity. It's no surprise, therefore,...

Richard Linklater's Before trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) looks to be headed in the same direction as Michael Apted's Up series: an exploration of the human condition over the passage of time. When Linklater and actors Eth...

Richard Linklater, the creator of Slackers and Dazed and Confused, has succeeded where many before him have failed -- in fashioning a modern-day romance that is both original and enthralling. Before Sunrise is nothing short of movie magic, and the...

Forget Spider-Man's tussle with Doc Ock. Forget Shrek's trek to Far Far Away. And forget Harry Potter's latest attempt to endure the snipes of Snape. For me, the sequel to see during the summer of 2004 is Richard Linklater's Before Sunset, a fol...

An Irish toast goes "May you be in heaven half an hour... before the devil knows you're dead," and it's from this source that the latest movie by 83-year-old veteran director Sidney Lumet derives its name. With films like Serpico,Q&A, and Night Fa...