Movie Reviews
Amen
From Costa-Gavras, the Greek director who specializes in political thrillers. In this one, set during WWII, a German chemical engineer is drafted into the SS (I thought you had to volunteer to be one of those cocksuckers, but never mind) to devise a way to make safe drinking water for troops in the field. He ends up ... Read more »
Amelie
One of the best films of 2001. Audrey Tautou is the most charming actress working now, and in this film she sets out to do good and right wrongs, in her own idiosyncratic way. It was written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who created the extremely odd Read more »
Amelia
This movie pissed me off. The life of Amelia Earhart really cries out for a good movie, but this one just manages to be boring. I know there are problems to be solved, but I don’t think the screenwriter solved any of them. For one thing, there’s the problem that everyone knows exactly how she died. I think the decision ... Read more »
Amazing Grace
This is a fairly routine biopic. Not anything to dislike, unless you are a student of history, and I understand there are the usual elisions and compressions and little facts changed for dramatic purposes. But there’s really not a lot to like, either. Like I said, routine, nothing new. It’s a good story, of how one man (of course, it was really a lot more than that in the ... Read more »
The Amateurs
I almost couldn’t find this at the IMDb. Turns out the original title was The Moguls. Jeff Bridges, a loveable small-town loser (very much like his performance in The Big Lebowski) joins with his quirky, loveable small-town lower ... Read more »
Amandla: A Revolution in Four Part Harmony
Tells of the role music played in the fight against apartheid. The best-known musicians here are Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. But all the music is good.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
(December 14, 2007, if we’re all really, really, really bad) I know it’s not strictly kosher to review a movie you haven’t seen, that hasn’t even been released yet, and that you would prefer to have all 32 teeth extracted without novocaine than see. But while suffering through 12 trailers for upcoming bad “family” movies while waiting for ... Read more »
All the King’s Men
I read the book in college, and remember very little of it. I saw the 1949 version with Broderick Crawford, and was greatly impressed. My understanding of this version is that Steven Zaillian (who has some very ... Read more »
All the King’s Men
I had completely forgotten that I had a copy of this … on LaserDisc, of all things! (Remember those? They were wonderful! Also doomed, alas, but for a few years there I had better picture and sound quality than anybody I knew.) There’s really not much point in reviewing this version, though. Just scroll down to the review ... Read more »
All of Me
Carl Reiner directed Steve Martin in four films in a row: The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, Read more »