Things seem to come in waves in South Florida. We have hurricane season, snowbird season, and come spring, film-festival season. There seem to be dozens of them, rolling in with the regularity of summer thunderstorms. Next up is the seventeenth Israel Film Festival, a presentation of Israel’s latest cinematic fare…
Presently sitting in a very peaceful meditational facility. First time here. The location (which shall remain unnamed so as to maintain nondenominational vibe) was selected specifically for the loving creation of this review, as it provides an almost perfect contrast to The Center of the World, the new motion picture…
There is no good place to begin with Harry Shearer, because he doesn’t sit still long enough to allow one the chance to focus. He is a blur, forever in motion–on his way to the radio station, on his way from the movie studio, on his way to the publisher’s…
This year’s Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival concludes with the South Florida premiere of Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon, an entertaining mystery-comedy. Headlined by the always excellent Judy Davis, the cast includes champs such as Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher Bown, Lili Taylor, and Juliette Lewis. Imagine a cinematic cross between…
It was easy to get all geared up to see Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World by Q. Allan Brocka. It was gay animation, after all. There’s not much of that around, and it could prove a bit risqué as well. But it was not…
Excuse me, but can somebody explain the movie world’s fascination with Las Vegas? The town without p(ersonal)ity crops up year after year as Hollywood’s favorite location. It’s not as though Las Vegas has some kind of special energy. There are tawdry casinos and cruising cars and neon nightscapes all over…
Joe Simon doesn’t read comic books anymore, and not because he’s an 87-year-old man with far better ways to spend his time. The former and, perhaps, future comics writer and illustrator simply doesn’t get them anymore; he doesn’t know who they’re for, what they’re about, why most of them even…
Seems like only yesterday Miami had no Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. And here comes the third one. Like the previous two, this festival is stacked with movies of all shapes and sizes: They come in the form of documentaries, Hollywood features, short series, gay-themed, lesbian-themed, animation, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish,…
What exactly is a gay film? A film about gay characters? A film by gay filmmakers? Or is gay cinema a marketing construct to attract a niche audience for a film in trouble? The last of these appears to be the correct answer when it comes to Julie Johnson, a…
Ah, summer love! Most adults can hark back to the days of their youth, especially that first wild, unforgettable rush of sexuality. Many stories try to capture those breathless moments: the first kiss, the first love, the awakening of desire. Imagine a picture-perfect Spanish beach town, pleasant summer weather, and…
Paul McGuinness has never thought of himself as a teacher of life lessons, so it comes as a bit of a surprise for him to hear it relayed that Kelly Curtis considers him an adviser–hell, a mentor. It comes as even more of a shock to discover that Curtis recalls…
Chinese cinema has long been at the forefront of modern moviemaking, but widespread recognition of this fact has been a long time coming, at least in the United States. Although enthusiasm for Hong Kong-style kung fu movies dates to Bruce Lee in the Seventies, such fervor generally has been derided…
September 9, 1966: Adam Sandler is born in Brooklyn, New York. He is raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. September 1987: Sandler joins Ken Ober, Colin Quinn, and Denis Leary as cast member on MTV’s game show Remote Control. Sometime in 1989: Sandler lands first starring role in a movie, playing…
Keep a diary, and one day it’ll keep you,” said Mae West, and while the sentiment rings true, it does little to explain the mystery of why Helen Fielding’s sliver of literary history managed to keep anyone. Fluffy, shrill, and approximately as deep as Cosmo magazine, the book somehow hit…
This is how famous Denis Leary is: He begins and ends a story by saying, “To this day, when I see Mick…,” and by Mick, he means Mick Jagger. They became pals, oh, seven years back, when the Rolling Stones were on that week’s farewell tour, kickin’ it in the…
Justice may be blind, but vengeance, it turns out, has a very short memory. So it goes in Memento, the much anticipated “puzzle” movie from Christopher Nolan (Following), which — as is already fairly well-known — plays out its plot more or less in reverse. Pitting the protagonist (and us)…
Easily the creepiest (and by far the most interesting) thing about Along Came a Spider, yet another adaptation of one of James Patterson’s alleged mystery novels featuring beleaguered Det. Alex Cross, is how much costar Monica Potter looks, sounds, and acts like Julia Roberts. Granted it’s hardly a revelation to…
Hello, what’s this? Could it be another cautionary tale from Hollywood about recreational drugs being — alert the media! — not particularly good for people? Indeed with Blow, director Ted Demme (Beautiful Girls, Monument Ave.) has set us up with a morality tale in which the moral is obvious from…
Ennio Morricone can tell you stories about each of his 400 children–where they were conceived, what they mean to him, why each one remains so singular and special he cannot and will not choose a favorite. He’s proud even of the orphans, the runts, the bastards, the children long ago…
As its title suggests, Spy Kids is an action fantasy aimed primarily at the preteen/early-teen audience. For all its thrills — and it has plenty — it’s strictly a PG film, which is all the more surprising when you consider its source: Robert Rodriguez, master of bloody gunplay and monster…
Amid the plethora of films with Freddie Prinze, Jr., Mena Suvari, Chris Klein, and Jason Biggs, it’s nice — in theory at least — to see a contemporary romantic comedy, like Someone Like You, where the characters, while hardly over the hill, are all over 30. In practice, however, “nice”…
Want to make a movie? Get a big house, preferably in a beautiful rural setting, gather a group of good-looking actors, and photograph them wandering around, discussing life and death. No, we’re not talking about The Big Chill or Enchanted April or Howard’s End or a dozen other successful films…
