Collateral
November 25, 2004
After the commercial failure and mixed critical reaction of the vastly underrated Ali (2001), Michael Mann returns to familiar territory—the urban crime thriller—with Collateral (2004). After making three grandiose epics in a row, he shifts gears...
Open Range
November 1, 2004
Similarities between Clint Eastwood’s Oscar winning Unforgiven and this old fashioned Western effort from Kevin Costner are inevitable. While this doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of Eastwood’s masterpiece – it’s still a powerful and convincing...
Lust och fägring stor (All Things Fair)
October 12, 2004
Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg had a prolific career spanning 32 years. From The Baby Carriage (1963) to All Things Fair (1995), he created realistic social dramas but with a romantic sensibility. This is no more apparent then in his final film, All Things...
The Dreamers
September 10, 2004
The Dreamers (2003) is Bernardo Bertolucci’s unapologetic love letter to being young and to the cinema. The movie yearns for a simpler time when it was exciting to be young and full of energy and idealism during a turbulent period in history. The characters...
Ali: The Director’s Cut
June 1, 2004
When Ali was released in 2001 it received decidedly mixed reviews. While Will Smith was praised for his impressive physical transformation into legendary boxer Muhammed Ali, the film itself was criticized for revealing nothing new about the man. Herein...
The Passion of the Christ
May 20, 2004
Whether you saw The Passion of the Christ at the cinema or not, one thing you will certainly already know thanks to the British tabloid frenzy – that there’s a lot of blood and a lot of controversy to be found in Mel Gibson’s portrayal...
Port of Shadows (Le Quai des Brumes)
May 20, 2004
“Oh, society is what it is, a bit sinister, a bit seamy, but I’ve heard there are beautiful things in it too.” This line is spoken by an artist early on in Port of Shadows (1938) and perfectly describes the world of this movie. Based on Pierre Mac...
Mystic River
May 18, 2004
Clint Eastwood is a highly regarded actor but under-appreciated as a director. Sure, he received an Academy Award for directing Unforgiven (1992) and deservedly so, but he is conspicuously absent when critics talk about great contemporary directors like...
21 Grams
April 24, 2004
21 Grams (2003) is a postmodern pastiche that focuses on the lives of three deeply flawed people whose lives have been shattered by a pivotal event that connects them in ways they couldn’t possibly have imagined. They are lost, adrift in a world...
Roswell: Season Two
December 23, 2003
Those teenage Tabasco lovers are back with more conspiracies and alien love triangles in the state of weird that is Roswell. At the end of season one Max and his alien buddies had their cover blown by releasing a signal that would announce their position...
