The creative team behind Monkeybone is amazing. It was directed by Henry Selick, the master of stop-motion animation who brought us The Nightmare Before Christmas. The screenplay is by Sam Hamm, who wrote Batman. Not counting Brendan Fraser, it stars an impressive group of comedic talent, including David Foley, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Kattan, Megan Mullally … Continue reading
After losing his badge in a bungled drug investigation, undercover narcotics agent Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) gets a chance at reinstatement when he’s asked to help solve the murder of a fellow undercover officer. Despite his wife’s fervent objections and his own strong reservations, Nick accepts the assignment, joining Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), the volatile … Continue reading
Martin Lawrence’s highly publicized run-ins with the law – he’s been arrested for battery and gun possession and once had to be subdued by cops after he ran screaming into a busy Los Angeles intersection – have left him with a serious grudge against the police force. Or so it would appear, judging by the … Continue reading
Determined to support his family after his father dies, the eternally idealistic Nicholas Nickleby (Charlie Hunnam) seeks help from his malevolent uncle (Christopher Plummer), who finds Nicholas a job teaching in a miserable academy run by a wretched, one-eyed schoolmaster (Jim Broadbent). Nicholas quickly flees, taking with him a persecuted boy, Smike (Jamie Bell), to … Continue reading
In his diary, revolutionary dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky complained, “Critics are selfish – they write about their own opinion and not the opinion of the audience.” Even though the man was mad as a hatter when he wrote it (he also griped, “I looked at a star, which did not say good evening”), I … Continue reading
Don’t look for Varla Jean, Hedda, or Brini in Nine Queens; if you’re expecting any gender bending antics within this Argentinean import, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The queens here are pictured on postage stamps which may (or may not) be worth half a million bucks to a pair of small time swindlers. The fun is … Continue reading
If you’ve ever bought one of the bootleg videos or DVDs sold on every corner in New York City – and admit it, you have – then you already have a pretty accurate idea of the production values you’ll find in Margaret Cho’s new concert film, Notorious C.H.O. Bad lighting, weird angles, erratic sound – … Continue reading
Margaret Cho returns to the screen in The Notorious C.H.O., a film that opened the New Festival here a few weeks ago. The title, an allusion to the powerful women of hip-hop, seems at first to be somewhat of a misnomer, since Cho never really references ‘Lil Kim, Eve or Mary J or their awe-inspiring … Continue reading
Even if film adaptations of literary classics make you edgy, there’s nothing to fear in O Brother, Where Art Thou, a rousing joyride that’s sure to entertain even those who have never read The Odyssey, on which it’s loosely based. For those who may have “forgotten” it, The Odyssey tells of King Odysseus (also called … Continue reading
“If grown men living out their every adolescent fantasy constitutes a happy ending, then Old School is an absolute fairy tale.” School Dazed In Old School, laughs come at the expense of taste Perhaps the reason Saturday Night Live alum Will Ferrell has found more success in Hollywood than most of his fellow SNL graduates is that … Continue reading
Mike Rucker Writes 