Email Author Melissa Levine

2006 Stories by Melissa Levine

• Kentucky Derby

  published September 13, 2006

  Amorous teenage rebellion is one thing. A sociopathic murder spree is another. In Jimmy and Judy, a brash and lurid bender into an... More >>

• Get Inside!

  published June 28, 2006

  Summer is the season of high expectations and profound disappointments. That suntan looks more like sunburn, your beer stays ice-cold till the... More >>

• Letter-Box Edition

  published June 21, 2006

  It may not be an "iconic manifestation of civilization," as documentarian Ken Burns proclaims, but the New York Times crossword puzzle is... More >>

• Smite Me

  published June 14, 2006

  About 10 minutes into Michael Cuesta's 12 and Holding, the following thought came to mind: Not afraid to put children in harm's way.... More >>

• Easy Rider

  published May 31, 2006

  A first-time feature film about a failed indie rocker, his beautiful girlfriend, and his sanctimonious nature-boy brother on a road trip: There... More >>

• Smite Me

  published May 17, 2006

  About 10 minutes into Michael Cuesta's 12 and Holding, the following thought came to mind: not afraid to put children in harm's way.... More >>

• Twisted Sisters

  published May 17, 2006

  Not long into The Sisters, a disastrously misconstrued melodrama "suggested" by the similarly named Chekhov play, three words come to mind:... More >>

• Head Over Heels

  published May 17, 2006

  There are lots of ways to grow up. The method offered by Somersault is to do something awful and then flee from it. This dreamy, sexy, and... More >>

• Naomi Then and Now

  published April 12, 2006

  Ellie Parker (Strand) This extremely raw portrait of an actress trying -- and failing -- to make it in Hollywood showcases... More >>

• Lovely, Not Amazing

  published April 5, 2006

  In Nicole Holofcener's first feature, 1996's Walking and Talking, the writer-director warmly portrayed an adult female friendship, nudging... More >>

• Biblical Contortions

  published April 5, 2006

  If you're craving an antidote to the sanctity of repressed gay cowboys, you could do worse than Adam & Steve. This good-natured comedy from... More >>

• Way Down in the Hole

  published April 5, 2006

  Countless are the creative souls who struggled with mental illness, as are the novels and films dedicated to them. Again and again, we've... More >>

• Misery Train

  published March 29, 2006

  At the opening of Lonesome Jim, a terrific new film directed by Steve Buscemi, a country song plays behind scenes of small-town desolation.... More >>

• Now You See Them

  published March 22, 2006

  Breasts: A Documentary (First Run) Honest, compassionate, and funny, this documentary is remarkable for the bravery of its... More >>

• Das Boot

  published March 15, 2006

  The coming-out tale Summer Storm is set at a rowing camp, where teams of boys and girls from around Germany train for a regatta. One of the... More >>

• Nowhere Man

  published March 8, 2006

  The brain is a beguiling thing. One evening, you're talking to a friend on the phone. Sometime later, you find yourself in a subway car, passing... More >>

• Jingle Hell

  published March 8, 2006

  It can't be easy making films about war. It's so inherently dramatic that, as a setting for art, it's overdetermined; it drips with meaning even... More >>

• Free for All

  published March 8, 2006

  If you plan to see The Libertine, an artful and brooding period piece about a scandalously debauched earl of the English Restoration, a few... More >>

• The Great Cash-In

  published March 1, 2006

  Walk the Line (Fox) No matter what a junkie does with his spare time -- say, redefine country music, or forge one... More >>

• Whoa, Nelly

  published February 22, 2006

  The thing that's so difficult about Cowboy del Amor -- a richly layered documentary by Israeli filmmaker Michèle Ohayon -- is the same... More >>

• Because of Dixie Win

  published February 22, 2006

  If the Confederacy had won the Civil War, would blacks still be enslaved? Would women vote? Would the United States have colluded with Hitler --... More >>

• Salt of the Earth

  published February 22, 2006

  Deep in the Southern California desert, 50 miles south of Palm Springs, lies the Salton Sea. Once a resort paradise for the wealthy, now a... More >>

• Verbal Amuse

  published February 22, 2006

  The hardest thing to explain about Shut Yer Dirty Little Mouth!, a weird gem from director Robert Taicher, is its tone. Somehow, this film... More >>

• Dreams Deferred

  published February 15, 2006

  The Boys of Baraka, a fine documentary about a group of inner-city, at-risk boys who travel to Kenya to attend a special school, comes very... More >>

• Like Star Trek With Worms

  published February 1, 2006

  Dune: Extended Edition (Universal) On paper it sounds insane: A mammoth sci-fi epic directed by David Lynch, based on an... More >>