Siskel and Ebert went two thumbs up on Ironweed in 1987, but most other reviewers joined audiences and went thumbs down, way down, on this adaptation of William KennedyÁ¢€â„¢s 1984…
Bob Cashill
Even if you don’t like what the Academy Awards represent–those questionable nominees, that PR flackery, all the “industry” sanctimony–it’s more than possible to enjoy the show itself. Didn’t we all…
IÁ¢€â„¢m not a huge fan of animated features. The Disney classics may have spoiled me: Like comets, they only came streaking into theaters once every few years, and the experience…
Clint Eastwood is having the last sneer on the Oscars. As three of the five best picture nominees struggle for a box office bounce (and one, The Reader, has become…
There was a time, not too long ago, that when the Oscar nominations were announced, IÁ¢€â„¢d seen all the nominated films. Indeed, IÁ¢€â„¢d seen all the significant movies of the…
I met my wife in Hong Kong. But my first love there was Jackie Chan. I wasnÁ¢€â„¢t alone in my affection: His movies, released on major holidays, were fun-for-the-family events,…
Rod Lurie says he likes my blog. HeÁ¢€â„¢s a friendÁ¢€”well, a Facebook friend, anyway. I might recuse myself from reviewing his latest film, Nothing But the Truth, but I should…
Á¢€Å“You have no will, no mind of your own,Á¢€ intones the dastardly villain in The Brides of Fu Manchu, one-half of a horripilating double feature available today. Fu, I hear…
It was easy to laugh at the Oscars recently, when, after a montage of heart-swelling moments from earnest, socially conscious, liberal-minded pictures about the ills of our society, host Jon…
Chances are youÁ¢€â„¢ve already missed Halloween. No, not the carving of the pumpkins or the trick-or-treating, which IÁ¢€â„¢ll feel less foolish doing when I bring my daughter. (IÁ¢€â„¢m a sucker…
Necessity is the mother of invention. I just didnÁ¢€â„¢t make it to the multiplex this week, but, fearing reprimand by my masters here at Popdose, figured I had to come…
Body of Lies didnÁ¢€â„¢t have to do much to impress me. ItÁ¢€â„¢s the first movie IÁ¢€â„¢ve seen since becoming a dad, and the switch from explosive poops to plain old…
Warning: this weekÁ¢€™s column is going to get ugly, and fast. We start with Choke, an adaptation of Chuck PalahniukÁ¢€™s novel, which is also a love letter to its star,…
Outside of a few odds and ends, the summer movie season pretty much concludes today. Throw the tarp over the pool, recondition the leaf blower, itÁ¢€â„¢s done. If youÁ¢€â„¢re willing…
If I ever run for office, and someone asks the drug-use question, I can honestly say I didnÁ¢€â„¢t inhale. While pop-music critics are a Dionysian lot, snorting coke off groupiesÁ¢€â„¢…
Maybe IÁ¢€â„¢ve been overthinking things. Worrying too much about the corrosive effects of superheroes on the cinema and all that. I did 1,500 words on The Dark Knight last week,…
Watching a superdeluxe presentation of The Dark Knight unfold across the eight-story-tall IMAX theater in Manhattan, I had a nagging question: why was the mayor of Gotham City wearing eyeliner…
Like the humans who misjudge or underestimate the big red lug on the big screen, I must apologize to Hellboy. Our first encounter, in 2004, was not a happy one….
Sex. You know you want it Á¢€” and I know youÁ¢€â„¢re not getting it from the movies. And I know youÁ¢€â„¢re not because IÁ¢€â„¢ve been looking myself, and coming up…
I have violated the covenant between reader and critic. You, the reader, expect me, the critic, to leave his home in Brooklyn, get on the subway, and attend screenings 25…
By the calendar itÁ¢€â„¢s not quite summer yet, but the northeast has already wilted under August heat Á¢€” and the movies already feel spent and depleted, in need of a…
You can see the nominees for best foreign-language film at the Oscars coming from a kilometer away. TheyÁ¢€â„¢re tied to some sort of hot-button issue, or a pivotal historical event…
Like Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross, IÁ¢€â„¢m overjoyed to find myself on the big board, with all the cool kids whoÁ¢€â„¢ve written Á¢€Å“Most PopularÁ¢€ Popdose posts. And I didnÁ¢€â„¢t…
Á¢€Å“ThatÁ¢€â„¢s it,Á¢€ said my friend, following our Monday evening screening of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Á¢€Å“IÁ¢€â„¢m through with Narnia.Á¢€ I know the feeling; itÁ¢€â„¢s the same one I…
All I know about Speed Racer I learned as a kid, when I watched episodes of the proto-anime between spoonfuls of Cocoa Puffs. There wasnÁ¢€â„¢t much to it Á¢€” there…
David Mamet canÁ¢€â„¢t commit. His latest Broadway show, November, is an almost-farce in need of bigger laughs. Despite its definitive title, his film Heist couldnÁ¢€â„¢t quite bring itself to be…
Like Hillary Clinton, Helen Hunt has always bugged me. I was never crazy about Mad About You, and while I don’t think she deserves the barbs thrown at her for…
I’ve been tasked with preparing a summer movie guide for Popdose. I haven’t done one of these since I was at the Daily Northwestern, cramming dozens of titles into a…
Thirty years from now, My Blueberry Nights may be considered a good film. It may even be considered a great film. Let me explain. Some years ago, I selected for…
Arthouse meets grindhouse in Funny Games, and the results are no fun at all. Writer-director Michael Haneke, the Austrian provocateur behind The Piano Teacher (2002) and CachÁƒ© (2005), is a…