Marwencol presents initially as your typical Independent Lens documentary feature, a bittersweet meditation on the strength of the human spirit that, while informative, doesn’t maintain good boundaries with the twee. But this film, about Mark …

The Movie: Taps
The Crush Object: Timothy Hutton
The Story: Brian Moreland (Hutton), a rising senior at Bunker Hill Military Academy, has just gotten a promotion to head cadet; he even got to sip brandy and shoot …

I lost track of Duel of the Iron Fist‘s plot about halfway through; I understood that Tuberculosis Guy had betrayed the hero, but only because the shot set-ups made it obvious from the moment he …

The Movie: Practical Magic
The Crush Object: Goran Visnjic
The Story: Sally and Gillian Owens (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, respectively) struggle with their family legacy. Not only do they come from a long line of witches, …

Before I get to the review proper, a quick explanation of why, after my recent dreadful trip to the Republic of Chibastan, I watched yet another Sonny Chiba movie…
I have a handful of weird compulsions …

Despite a whiffy premise that put me in mind of Christine, and not in a good way, I wanted to like The Entity more than I did. It just isn’t scary enough.
The entity in question …

I’d gotten used to thinking of Sonny Chiba movies as ponderous, shadowy wastes of time, but it occurred to me recently that maybe I remembered them unfairly. It’s Chiba, for God’s sake; it’s not all …

I had never seen The Crying Game, despite knowing the twist most of my adult life — which is why I had never bothered seeing it. The spoiler aspect didn’t bother me, but everything except …

Let’s leave aside for a moment the fact that I could barely choose among the myriad vaguely pejorative courtroom-drama puns for the subhed, and focus on what makes The Verdict unique. It’s not the acting, …

I didn’t do so well on these last year, which I think is because of the Death Race, not in spite of it — but perhaps I can improve my percentages in ’11. From a …