Spielberg and Hanks spawn a daring new genre: the post-9/11 comedy
By Bill Gallo,
June 16, 2004
Getting stranded at snowbound O'Hare for the night is one thing. You call home, maybe knock down a couple of martinis, then grab a blanket. A... More>>
Jackie Chan takes a long trip without going anyplace new
By Robert Wilonsky,
June 16, 2004
You might think that with the technological advances in moviemaking since 1956, this new version of Around the World in 80 Days would at least... More>>
Dromedaries bond over string music in a refreshing new docudrama
By Bill Gallo,
June 16, 2004
Fair warning: If the behavior of camels in the Gobi Desert during the spring birthing season is not high on your things-to-learn-about list, and... More>>
Inside Al-Jazeera, journalists tell a familiar story unfamiliarly
By Robert Wilonsky,
June 09, 2004
Jehane Noujaim co-directed 2001's remarkable Startup.com, about two Internet whiz kids who brokered just enough big deals to wind up with broken... More>>
In the former Soviet republic, chaos reigns Since Otar Left
By Luke Y. Thompson,
June 09, 2004
Although we're naturally inclined to assume that the fall of communism made things better across the board for former Soviets, those with long... More>>
As much of the civilized world now knows, the latest Harry Potter director is Alfonso Cuaron, best known for the explicit teen sexual-awakening... More>>
Hanif Kureishi's new drama is like life, sharpened to its finest points
By Melissa Levine,
June 02, 2004
The first exceptional drama of 2004 is here, and it only took, what, five months? Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Mother comes from British writer... More>>
A new film denouncing corporate ruthlessness could use some downsizing of its own
By Melissa Levine,
June 02, 2004
Near the beginning of The Corporation, a damning documentary designed to expose everything that is irresponsible, immoral, inhumane, and lethal... More>>
For the 2004 summer season, Hollywood sticks with what it knows
By Luke Y. Thompson,
May 26, 2004
If the summer movie season is our annual time for escapism, last summer's audiences escaped most often with the likes of Hulk, Terminator 3, and... More>>
Childhood games turn into obsession in Love Me If You Dare
By Gregory Weinkauf,
May 26, 2004
It's a sign that a nation may be losing its collective mind when it grants a nutty hack like Quentin Tarantino an exalted title like Officer of... More>>
Bukowski gets his in a touching, terrifying documentary
By Robert Wilonsky,
May 26, 2004
"Whadyawant, motherfuck?" They're the first words Charles Bukowski speaks in John Dullaghan's documentary about the poet and novelist, famous for... More>>
Hudson's a bad mother, and sister, in this pat parenthood tale
By Robert Wilonsky,
May 26, 2004
Sitting through Raising Helen is an exercise in frustration, because somewhere inside this big heap of Hollywood nothing is a something (someone,... More>>
High school outcasts and Jesus freaks duke it out in Saved!
By Melissa Levine,
May 26, 2004
Beware the exclamation point. When found at the end of a title, it almost inevitably signals a level of self-hype rarely justified by the content... More>>
Ah, the peculiar genius that is Guy Maddin. Who else but the morose Canadian director, born and raised in one of the coldest cities in the world,... More>>
Carandiru reveals the human side of Brazilian prisoners, then leads us to their slaughter
By Bill Gallo,
May 19, 2004
Moviegoers who know the tides of recent Brazilian history will likely get more from Hector Babenco's new prison movie, Carandiru, than the rest... More>>
Python's Brian returns, bearing cinematic salvation
By Gregory Weinkauf,
May 19, 2004
In 2004 A.D., as the five remaining members of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe lie in coffins in a Vanity Fair spread to jeer at their... More>>