The leading Long Island gum surgeon, and one of its leading ladies' men, is stabbed to death in his office after hours. Adapted by Susan Isaacs from her own novel, the movie aims at being satirical and blackly comic, settles for being just bitchy and catty (if that isn't a …
At some level, inaccessible to the naked eye, this could be classified as a jailbreak thriller, but any family resemblance to the likes of Black Tuesday or The Concrete Jungle has been obliterated beneath the mask of spectacle -- the cosmetic surgery, the collagen injections, the earrings and nose studs, …
The closest thing to a Steve Reeves Italian muscleman epic to come along in quite some time. The ravaging of a peaceful village by vandals on horseback, the son of the slain chieftain brought up in slavery and honing his avenger's ambitions by way of gladitorial school, the diabolical temptress …
The closest thing to a Steve Reeves Italian muscleman epic to come along in quite some time. The ravaging of a peaceful village by vandals on horseback, the son of the slain chieftain brought up in slavery and honing his avenger's ambitions by way of gladitorial school, the diabolical temptress …
Also describable as Conan the Modest, in comparison with his first screen adventure and none the worse for it. Grace Jones, she of the flat-top haircut and the flat-front torso, is a helpful recruit, with none of that mushy stuff between her and the hero to slow things down. And …
The janitor at the Bolshoi, demoted from maestro for political motives under Brezhnev, intercepts a faxed invitation from the Châtelet in Paris, and conspires to round up sixty fellow out-of-work musicians for an imposter orchestra. Low comedy en route to high culture, a climax of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, mixed throughout …
This, the fourth of the Airports, continues the steady climb into thinner and thinner air. It concerns a billionaire arms manufacturer who launches repeated midair attacks on the Concorde airliner, en route from Washington to Moscow, in order to eliminate one of its passengers, his girlfriend, who is in possession …
The age-old struggle of a personal honor code against an imposed social code has been placed in a remote Kipling-esque setting -- a British military outpost in 19th-century India -- so that (a) the issues stand out boldly, (b) we know which side we're supposed to be on, and (c) …
Costa-Gavras's nose for the irresistible subject (the Communist Party purges in Czechoslovakia) and Yves Montand's eagerness to participate (he drops enough pounds to appear impressively emaciated) yield a credible drama of historical speculation, done, in prison and courtroom mainly, with far fewer cars and tighter reins than normal for Mr. …
An adaptation of the "unauthorized autobiography" of Chuck Barris, TV game-show producer -- The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, et al. -- and moonlighting CIA hit man. Says him. We meet the protagonist (played with maximum smarm and supreme sleaze by Sam Rockwell) holed up, Manson-haired, naked, close to catatonic, …
The addiction nightmare played as comedy, very frothy and formulaic and materialistic comedy: a dozen maxed-out credit cards of an aspiring fashion writer, and rapacious consumer, in Manhattan (“They said I was a valued customer. Now they send me hate mail!”). The effervescent Isla Fisher dives into the role as …
Her Highness is exiled from the island of Manhattan to the cultural wilderness of Dellwood, New Jersey, a new world to conquer. The adult perspective (i.e., sardonic condescension, campy ornamentation) doesn't broaden the appeal beyond girls only -- little ones. With Lindsay Lohan, Adam Garcia, Glenne Headly, Alison Pill, and …
A British brides' magazine runs a contest, with the grand prize of a half-million-pound dream home, for the Most Original Wedding of the year. The themes of the three finalists: Hollywood musicals, tennis, and naturism, i.e., nudism. Shot, plausibly enough, in the mockumentary style (the magazine would naturally want a …
Better titled Cockiness, even if it meant that the convoluted scam at the center of it had to be called, with altogether appropriate machismo, a cock game: the poker-faced Edward Burns, in a cropped haircut that makes him into a poor man's Ben Affleck, dances rings around Dustin Hoffman's underworld …