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With a mostly female cast and a poetic title, it might be easy to assume that Paradise Road is a 1997 version of Mike Newell's effervescent Enchanted April. However, apart from those stated similarities, there's little to connect the two films. ...

Pay It Forward couldn't have more obvious aspirations if the filmmakers announced them. Featuring a top-notch cast; an adept script that meshes tragedy, light comedy, romance, and melodrama; and the kind of overall optimism that is a perfect tonic...

Some will argue that a film, being essentially a means of entertainment, can do little to change a national consciousness. Others, citing the power of the medium, will claim that motion pictures possess this rare and extraordinary ability. These ...

The filmmakers responsible for Pieces of a Woman tout its honest, life-affirming qualities. While no one would debate the former, it’s necessary to come through the narrative’s gauntlet to achieve the latter. This is an emotionally wrenchi...

How does one go about reviewing a movie that is as widely considered “the worst movie ever made” as Citizen Kane is deemed to be the best? It’s especially difficult when one considers that the film’s reputation dwarfs its reality. It h...

There are two ways that you can look at Kevin Costner's The Postman (not to be confused with the former Oscar contender of the same name, starring Massimo Troisi). The first is that it's a muddled but occasionally-brilliant lampoon of epic motio...

Prelude to a Kiss convinced me that Meg Ryan possesses the acting chops to be in more than light romantic fare - a distinction that her best-known movie at the time (When Harry Met Sally) had not claimed. In fact, her performance in this 1992 prod...

One of the most unfortunate aspects of a courtroom thriller is the tendency to degenerate into preposterous melodrama. It's as if the basic situation of having a person on trial for their life isn't inherently powerful enough. As a result, cheap...

What a croc! Unsolicited advice to filmmakers: When making a monster movie, do not attempt to sell said film as a picture about a serial killer. Second piece of unsolicited advice to filmmakers: When making a monster movie, keep the focus on the...

When Disney mothballed traditional animation in 2004 following a series of disappointing box office underperformers, the blame was placed upon changing tastes - that viewers preferred the more eye-popping style of computer-generated images to the "...