Director Spike Lee’s preoccupation with the events of 9/11 first becomes evident during the opening credits of 25th Hour, which spotlight the infamous “Towers of Light” that emanated from Ground Zero at the end of last year. From there, 9/11 is everywhere; not simply alluded to, but prominently highlighted in numerous moments of hats-off, hands-over-heart … Continue reading
After brilliantly satirizing community theater in Waiting for Guffman and dog shows in Best in Show, director Christopher Guest now takes a loving shot at folk music with his latest “mockumentary,” A Mighty Wind. The hysterically deadpan action follows three legendary folk acts as they prepare to reunite for a tribute concert in New York … Continue reading
Although probably intended to break the hearts of straight women and men, About a Boy will undoubtedly have plenty of gays reaching for tissues, thanks to its near-perfect depiction of life as an outcast. A scene of a sissy-ish boy, Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), being chased home from school by a trio of bullies did it … Continue reading
Allow me to make a prediction: Jack Nicholson will receive an Oscar nomination – and very likely the award itself – for his performance in About Schmidt. Not because he’s particularly good in it, or because the movie is all that great, but because the film stinks. It reeks throughout with a carefully formulated aroma … Continue reading
Jack Nicholson stars as Warren Schmidt, a sad-sack senior citizen who’s just learning to cope with life after retirement when his wife (June Squibb) dies unexpectedly. With nothing to do but write weepy letters to Ndugu, the unseen African boy he recently sponsored through a children’s charity, Schmidt hops into his Winnebago and embarks on … Continue reading
Finally, the wait is over: the year’s best film has arrived. An incredible semi-quasi-autobiography that defies both explanation and categorization, the newest from director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is even more inventive and perplexing than their pleasingly peculiar Being John Malkovich. In 1999, Kaufman was commissioned to adapt “The Orchid Thief,” a nonfiction … Continue reading
Hired to adapt a plotless, nonfiction book by real-life author Susan Orleans (Meryl Streep) about a fanatic horticulturist (Chris Cooper), neurotic screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) struggles to craft a story out of its deeply layered, esoteric musings without relying on overused Hollywood conventions. Meanwhile, after attending a screenwriting seminar, his jocular twin brother Douglas … Continue reading
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
Mike Rucker Writes 