Loosely based on actual events, this mildly entertaining WWII flick concerns a team of Allied soldiers who don drag in order to infiltrate a Nazi factory that only employs women. Led by fearless special agent Steven O’Rourke (Matt LeBlanc), the so-called “Poof Patrol” includes a bookish codebreaker (David Birkin), a persnickety clerk (James Cosmo), and … Continue reading
“Green’s incredibly insightful film offers an insider’s glimpse at rural America’s landscape: abandoned factories, deserted railroad yards, barren fields and muddy stock-car tracks, all rendered achingly beautiful by Tim Orr’s stunning cinematography. All the while, it paints a vivid portrait of the working-class citizens who inhabit these places. All of them, it seems, have regrets … Continue reading
Unfolding in languid, espisodic scenes that feel startlingly real, this poignant film examines the thrill of first love and the tangle of emotions that often accompany it. At the center of the story is 22-year-old Paul (Paul Schneider), an unambitious mechanic in a small rural town whose pattern of casual sexual conquests is disrupted when … Continue reading
Denzel Washington makes his directorial debut with the true story of Antwone Fisher (Derek Luke), a sullen sailor with a heart of gold whose exceptionally harsh life has left him severely lacking in both self-esteem and self-control. When his temper lands him an appointment with a Navy psychiatrist (Washington), Fisher is forced to confront the … Continue reading
This fascinating bio-pic traces Hogan’s Heroes star Bob Crane’s curious transformation from mild-mannered family man to sex-crazed amateur porn producer. With his creepy pal John (Willem Dafoe) in perpetual tow, Crane (Greg Kinnear) uses his fame to lure women to wild orgies he captures on tape. Ultimately, his refusal to acknowledge the serious conflict between … Continue reading
I had a heck of a time trying to decide whether, in reviewing Bend It Like Beckham, I needed to explain exactly who “Beckham” is. On the one hand, most gay readers couldn’t name a single American football player, much less a British one – even if he is one of the biggest internationally known … Continue reading
Like most Americans (well, the women and gay men, anyway), I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy. Give me Meg Ryan tippity-typing away with Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts selling her love to Richard Gere and I’m quite content, thank you (and if Julia’s got a gay best friend and is trying to stop … Continue reading
Many critics will undoubtedly point to Big Trouble’s unfortunate subject matter (particularly an extended plane-hijacking sequence and an excruciating lampooning of airport security) as the reason for the film’s certain failure at the box office. Disney, the film’s distributor, will surely cling to that theory as well, having already pushed the film’s opening back from … Continue reading
When Al Gore invented the Internet, he surely never guessed how useful a tool it would become in helping love-starved denizens of cyberspace find their perfect mate. How could he have known that, by the year 2002, websites like match.com would be advertising during Friends, promising a perfect partner for every Tom, Dick and Mary … Continue reading
In an endearing display of democratic goodwill, the Great Pixie herself, Björk, hosted a poll on her formidable website to determine which tracks would be included on Greatest Hits, a new retrospective of songs from her first four solo albums. It might be a stretch to call some of the eccentric artist’s musical oddities … Continue reading
Mike Rucker Writes 