Many people proclaimed director Wes Anderson a genius after 1998’s Rushmore. I, however, felt it premature to bestow such a title to a filmmaker with only two films to his name. Now, with The Royal Tenenbaums, I find myself enthusiastically joining the throng. At the risk of sounding like a latecomer to the party: Wes … Continue reading
Extracurricular Activity It’s an interesting paradox that the demographic to which The Rules of Attraction will perhaps hold the most appeal – Generation X-ers who grew up reading the novels of Brett Easton Ellis – will probably be the audience most turned off by the film. That’s due, in large part, to the fact that … Continue reading
Grade: B+ Kinsey Scale: 4 (In addition to endlessly pining for Sean, Paul has a few other near-sexual encounters. Gay icon Faye Dunaway plays Paul’s own Mommie Dearest. Countless gratuitous shots of hot college boys prancing around in their underwear, along with a few full-frontal glimpses of Victor (Kip Pardue), the totally gorgeous European traveller). Continue reading
Nobody manufactures pre-packaged, synthetic cheer quite like Disney, as proven by this relentlessly merry sequel. Tim Allen returns as Santa, who discovers his employment contract has a “Mrs.” clause, requiring him to marry or forfeit the job. With the “de-Santafication” process already underway, he hurries back to the suburbs to find a bride, and to … Continue reading
The Son’s Room concerns a family’s reaction to the tragic death of a teenaged son, a conflict also examined in the recent In the Bedroom. Both films have received critical acclaim and accolades (The Son’s Room won the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes and is an Academy Award nominee for best foreign film; In the … Continue reading
After discovering her recently murdered husband stole $6 million, Regina (Thandie Newton) must defend herself from his cohorts, who subsequently show up thinking she has the loot. When a mysterious stranger (Mark Wahlberg) comes to her aid, she finds herself simultaneously suspicious and smitten. The action in this remake of the Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant thriller … Continue reading
Nickelodeon’s popular animated series about a girl who can converse with animals hits the big screen in a rollicking film that combines action-packed adventure with heartfelt ecology lessons. After being shipped off to boarding school in London by her globetrotting nature documentarian parents (voiced by Tim Curry and Jodi Carlisle), Eliza (Lacey Chabert) must make … Continue reading
“For all its rhapsodic qualities, Till Human Voices Wake Us is not so much a poem as a riddle, and one of sphinx-like inscrutability at that.” Poetic Injustice Supernatural mystery suffers from a lack of concrete clues Till Human Voices Wake Us takes its name from a poem, “The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock,” by … Continue reading
“After seeing The Time Machine, I wished I, too, could take a trip back in time – to avoid seeing this movie altogether.” It’s always frustrating to see a film that has everything going for it but still manages to be unwatchable. The Time Machine contains all of the ingredients for a fantastic movie: a … Continue reading
With Detective Slocumb in hot pursuit, the girls are left with only visions of Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Lucci) to guide them. Hollywood generally considers sequels as easy money. Consequently, rather than alienating fans of a movie by trying something new, filmmakers tend to serve up a rehashed version of the original. As … Continue reading
Mike Rucker Writes 