Movie Reviews
Crisis
This film was banned in all Spanish-speaking countries south of the border, and no wonder. It depicts life under the sort of military strongman that was typical of just about all those countries during at least some part of their histories, and a revolution to overthrow one of them. Can’t have that floating around, giving people ideas … as if they needed a film to ignite the spark of ... Read more »
Criminal
I love movies about con games, but they have to be honest. I know that sounds funny, the moviemaker is obviously going to be out to trick you, and I want to be tricked. What I mean is, it should all add up when it’s over. You should have seen it coming. I’ve loved con games since The Sting, which introduced me ... Read more »
Crazy Heart
All I knew was that it was about a washed-up, alcoholic country singer who once was pretty famous, and that Jeff Bridges won the Oscar. Uh … can anyone say Tender Mercies? I wasn’t really falling all over myself to see it. So I was pleasantly surprised when Robert Duvall showed up as one of Bad Blake’s old friends. I only wish he had been Mac Sledge, the role he ... Read more »
Crash
Yeah, the critics who didn’t like it are right in that it is manipulative and relies on staggering coincidences. And it’s true that this sort of thing has been done before, and possibly better, in two great films: Grand Canyon and Magnolia. And Do the Right Thing is an angrier film about the same theme. But ... Read more »
The Cradle Will Rock
From 1934 to 1937 the Federal Theater Project was part of the WPA, intended to put creative people back to work. This is the true story of how commie-hunters shut it down, and of one of the last performances. Characters are people like Orson Welles, John Houseman, William R. Hearst, Nelson Rockefeller, and Diego Rivera. The cast is a director’s dream: Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, Joan ... Read more »
Cowboys and Aliens
I can just see the genius behind this walking into a producer’s office and saying three words: “Cowboys and aliens.” And the producer immediately signs a check for one hundred big ones and says, “Try to get Harrison Ford.” This is the biggest “concept” movie since Snakes on a Plane, another one that didn’t need a script to get sold. The title says it. It’s big, ... Read more »
Cover Girl
Gene Kelly runs a small nightclub, his girlfriend (Rita Hayworth) works in the chorus. A wealthy man who was once in love with her mother gives her a chance to make it in the Big Time. Kelly, not wanting to stand in her way—or at least that’s how he stupidly rationalizes it to himself—pretends he doesn’t love her anymore, so she leaves him and makes it big. She’s about to marry the ... Read more »
The Court Jester
I am a big fan of Danny Kaye, and I think this is his best movie … with The Inspector General running a close second. All the gags work wonderfully well, the plot gets delightfully complicated, the Technicolor photography is dazzling, and the supporting cast are uniformly great. Mildred Natwick in particular does a great straight-faced comic turn, and Glynis ... Read more »
County Hospital
Plot? We don’t need no steenkin’ plot! A two-reeler doesn’t really need much of a plot, and this one demonstrates that you don’t need one at all. Just a situation: Ollie is in the hospital with his leg in traction, in a cast. (As soon as you see that rope on his leg, you know he will soon be hanging from it.) Stan pays him a visit. Chaos ensues. This one features ... Read more »
Dont Look Back
(No, we didn’t forget the apostrophe; that’s how the title is spelled.) You’ve probably heard of that silly old theory that somebody else wrote all of William Shakespeare’s plays. Christopher Marlowe, Queen Elizabeth, Jack the Ripper, PeeWee Herman … I dunno. Stupid. But I kept thinking, watching this for the first time since it was new, that you can’t listen to Bob Dylan talk and ... Read more »