07 Jan 2009

Star Wars: "Doubt," "Valkyrie," "The Reader," "Bedtime Stories," and "Marley & Me"

By Mike Schulz

Meryl Streep in DoubtDOUBT

Based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, writer/director John Patrick Shanley's period drama Doubt - set in 1964, and concerning a nun who suspects a priest of sexual misconduct with an altar boy - isn't much of a movie. Shanley's previous directorial effort was 1990's Joe Versus the Volcano, and it's a shame he wasn't able to get in more practice over the last 18 years; in an attempt to gussy up the visual blandness that accompanies most theatrical adaptations, Shanley opts for a series of high- and low-angle shots and symbolic thunder, lightning, and wind effects that oftentimes make Doubt resemble a satire of a low-budget horror flick. And it's still visually bland.

25 Jul 2007

How 'Mo Can You Go?: "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"

By Mike Schulz

Kevin James and Adam Sandler in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & LarryI NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY

Movies released by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company have always been easily described in a sentence. With I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, we finally have one that can be described in a title.

16 May 2007

Spawn of the Dead: "28 Weeks Later," "The Ex," and "Lucky You"

By Mike Schulz

28 Weeks Later28 WEEKS LATER

In any given year, I see a lot of horror movies at the cineplex. But I remember one moment from watching the 2002 zombie flick 28 Days Later like it was yesterday: when that drop of infected blood landed on Brendan Gleeson, and the audience didn't just gasp, we practically moaned. It was the most spontaneously empathetic group response I'd ever heard during a fright film - a hundred people simultaneously reacting with "No, not him" anguish - and it underlined what made Danny Boyle's nerve-racking thriller so strong.

12 Apr 2005

"Fever Pitch" Wins Despite Its Directors: Also, "The Upside of Anger"

By Mike Schulz

Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon in Fever PitchFEVER PITCH

As long as there's a Hollywood, there will be a surfeit of romantic comedies, but when was the last time you saw one that was as charming and magical as it pretended to be? Granted, Hitch made oodles of money, but the platonic love between Will Smith and Kevin James was more engaging than either of their characters' eventual hook-ups, and The Wedding Date, in which Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney made flirtation look like an act of desperation, was just slightly less romantic than any given episode of Will & Grace.

28 Sep 2004

"Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut" Unnecessary But Still Stunning: Also, "The Forgotten" and "Wimbledon"

By Mike Schulz
Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut

DONNIE DARKO: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

After I first saw Donnie Darko on DVD some 16 months back, I did something I'd done only once or twice before, and never again since: I returned to the main menu, hit "Play," and watched the movie again.

17 Feb 2004

"50 First Dates" Leave Nothing but Despair: Also, "The Cooler" and "Barbershop 2: Back in Business"

By Mike Schulz

Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in 50 First Dates50 FIRST DATES

Adam Sandler's 50 First Dates is about a man who falls in love with a woman suffering from short-term memory loss, a condition the filmmakers must think afflicts their audience as well.

30 Sep 2003

"Spellbound" Reminds How Fun Documentaries Can Be: Also, "The Rundown," "Duplex," and "Underworld"

By Mike Schulz

Harry Altman in SpellboundSPELLBOUND

I have always considered it a personal mission to convince people that documentaries can actually be fun - recently, I enjoyed a hard-won victory when my mother (who, as she is wont to say, "gets enough drama in life") acceded to watch Bowling for Columbine and found herself liking it - and, bless their hearts, the folks at the Brew & View appear to as well.

01 Jul 2003

These "Angels" are a Joyously Ridiculous Spectacle: "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," "28 Days Later," and "From Justin to Kelly"

By Mike Schulz

Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, and Drew Barrymore in Charlie's Angels: Full ThrottleCHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE

Everything I loathed about the original Charlie's Angels movie - the Matrix-as-shampoo-commercial direction of McG, the beyond-senseless plotting, the "Are we hot or what? " imperiousness of Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu - is back in spades in the franchise's sequel Full Throttle, but this time, it worked for me.

27 Jan 2003

"Confessions" Offers a Funny, Twisted World: "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Kangaroo Jack," "A Guy Thing," and "National Security"

By Mike Schulz

George Clooney and Sam Rockwell in Confessions of a Dangerous MindCONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND

George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, plays like the funny, ironic companion piece to A Beautiful Mind, and the new film shrewdly, and hysterically, plays off your knowledge of Ron Howard's Oscar-winning opus.

23 Oct 2001

"From Hell" Is Heaven-Sent: Also, "Riding in Cars with Boys" and "The Last Castle"

By Mike Schulz

Johnny Depp in From HellFROM HELL

You can be forgiven for assuming that From Hell, Allen and Albert Hughes' re-telling of the Jack the Ripper saga (based on the immensely popular graphic novel), is a follow-up to Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, what with its previews focusing on a shadowy murderer, lots of fog and mist, Johnny Depp's investigator speaking in a British accent (Cockney this time), and Heather Graham in the Christina Ricci role of the Corseted Love Interest.

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