Though I am often swayed and a bit star-struck when a director I admire—in this case Jean-Pierre Jeunet (City of Lost Children, Amélie)—is presenting his own film, as was the case of the screening of …
I’ve told myself that don’t watch soaps, but Queer as Folk is just another example of how I lie to myself more often than is healthy. Let’s just say that my early 90s addiction to 90210 and Melrose Pl…
Films about transgendered people aren't exactly filling up the multi-plexes. For that reason alone, Beautiful Boxer is pretty special. But to its credit, it is actually a pretty charming and absorbing…
Why? Because about two minutes into Ladder 49, as a crew of firefighters are climbing stairs in a burning warehouse, Robert Patrick’s character says, “I’m gettin’ too old for this s**t.”
Yup. One of …
A Soldier's Girl is based on a tragic true story, about the affair between a soldier, Pvt. Barry Winchell, falling for a "local girl" who is a transgender nightclub singer named Calpernia Addams.…
I love guy movies. I love onscreen explosions. What's not to love about Backdraft? I spent the entire movie working on that question, and finally realized that it has no soul. It's just a didactic, me…
Like the Southern home cooking featured so prominently in the film, Fried Green Tomatoes sticks to your ribs. Its characters take up residence in your mind and stay with you for years to come. Now, wi…
Who'da thought that they'd be making movies based on underground comics? Following the critical success of movies like Ghost World (based on a "graphic novel") and Crumb (a documentary about a freaky …
The first time I saw Arizona Dream, I was smitten. I had been waiting to see the movie for three years by the time I stumbled into the video, and when I finally watched it, it just took my breath awa…
Now, one of the things I love about going to film festivals is seeing movies "cold"... i.e. glancing over the schedule, eyeing the cast of a film, for instance, and circling it, saying to yourself, "S…
Diane Lane, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, plays Connie, a suburban housewife who has a perfectly nice home, a perfectly nice son, and most importantly, a perfectly nice marriage with Edward…
One of my favorite things about getting the chance to see movies before they open theatrically is being able to watch a film with virgin eyes. To see it unspoiled, before hundreds of critics and dozen…
