Festival in Cannes is built upon a wickedly clever idea: shoot a movie about the business of moviemaking using the world’s most glamorous film festival as a backdrop. With a never-ending parade of haut monde cavorting on the gorgeous beaches of one of the most beautiful seaside villages in the world, the Cannes Film Festival … Continue reading
“As one of his subjects enthusiastically puts it, ‘Charlie’s work reaches out and grabs you by the fucking balls.’ Pity the documentary about him doesn’t do the same.” Shooting To Thrill Documentary explores the career of fetish photographer Charles Gatewood Chances are, you’ve encountered a portrait by photographer Charles Gatewood at some point, even if … Continue reading
“With a mesmerizing story even more peculiar than anything she ever committed to canvas, you’ll find yourself thinking again and again, ‘can this really be true?’ Amazingly, it is.” Surreal World New biopic captures the spirit of painter Frida Kahlo With Frida Kahlo, puppeteer-director Julie Taymor has found a live-action subject perfectly suited to her … Continue reading
With monkeys on her shoulders and unibrow affixed firmly in place, Salma Hayek conjures the spirit of bisexual Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in this stunning account of the artist’s life. A tragic bus accident at age 18 results in a lifetime of excruciating pain for Frida, but her real suffering comes via a tumultuous 25-year … Continue reading
Following their suburban adventures in Next Friday, clueless cousins Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) have moved back to the ‘hood. Now it’s Christmas Eve, and a burglar has just made off with their rent money. Threatened with eviction by their unpleasant landlady, the two take jobs as security guards at a local shopping … Continue reading
In 1862, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns after a 16-year absence to a crime-ridden district of New York called Five Points to avenge the murder of his father (Liam Neeson). Instead, he’s taken under the wing of the man who killed him, the neighborhood’s ruthless leader, Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (a splendid Daniel Day-Lewis). But … Continue reading
Titanic meets The Haunting in this tale of a salvage crew that discovers a seemingly deserted luxury liner still drifting at sea forty years after it mysteriously disappeared. Although the film teases with a clever opening (which easily qualifies as one of the most gleefully gruesome in recent memory), the action quickly reverts to standard horror-flick frivolity. … Continue reading
Ghost World begins with the high school graduation of best friends Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). Life (including a graduation ceremony sponsored by Tropicana and Dunkin’ Donuts) has left the girls decidedly cynical. Much too cool for school, they’ve decided to forego college in favor of finding jobs and moving in together. Ghost … Continue reading
Anyone dumb enough to go to a movie starring drag queens hoping to find a first-rate story or award-winning dramatic performances deserves whatever disappointment he or she is certain to experience. Sure, there are the occasional pathos-infused drag flicks (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and, to a … Continue reading
Poor, poor Mariah. First, after a string of chart-topping singles, she releases a song that can only claw its way to #1 by having its price slashed to 49 cents. Now, a movie guaranteed to get reviews that just might send her right back to her padded room in that undisclosed hospital. To be clear: … Continue reading
Mike Rucker Writes 