FilmStew.com: REVIEWSANDVIEWS

The "Shawshank" Replication

08/22/2008

The similarities of Death Race to a certain 1994 Best Picture nominee make the Legally Blonde flavorings of The House Bunny look like a boob job.

Something Rotten in Park City

08/22/2008

For our critic, sitting through the $10 million Sundance acquisition Hamlet 2 was the equivalent of suffering the slings and arrows of (an) outrageous fortune.

Ben Holds Five

08/15/2008

The hardest working sexagenarian in British show business has essentially morphed into his country’s version of Morgan Freeman.

A May-December Tap Dance

08/08/2008

Though Elegy has all the makings of one of those preposterous older man-younger woman Hollywood romances, it has been turned into so much more by a Brit and two Spaniards.

Good Golly Miss Molly

08/01/2008

A decade and a half after child actor T.J. Lowther tore it up opposite Kevin Costner in A Perfect World, another formidable pint-sized performer has come along to rock the Oscar winner’s world.

The 20th Century Fox "Files"

07/25/2008

Another weekend, another News Corp. mainstream offering fastidiously kept on the down low. But in this case, it might actually backfire.

The Cracked Crusader

07/23/2008

Lurking beneath the chic business attire of Gotham City’s mayor is The Dark Knight ’s wonkiest superhero.

Licensed to Shrill

07/21/2008

Many things in the ABBA Broadway musical film adaptation had our critic muttering ‘Mamma Mia!’ to herself, but none more so than Pierce Brosnan’s leaky larynx.

More Inconvenient Truth-Telling

07/02/2008

For his rallying cry against global warming, German filmmaker Werner Herzog bypassed the slide show in favor of a trip to Antarctica.

Help "Wanted"

06/27/2008

Wanted and The Promotion have something in common that is a little less obvious than the fact that they are both set in Chicago.

"Smart" Reverberations

06/20/2008

For anyone familiar with the older credits of co-stars Alan Arkin and Terence Stamp, it’s their performances that provide the true joy of Get Smart.

"Sex" and the Golden Oldie

05/30/2008

In between the years Sex and the City lynchpins Michael Patrick King and Darren Star were born, a Joan Crawford movie came out that looks today like a virtual blueprint of the pair’s HBO home run.

Enthralled by "The Fall"

05/12/2008

David Fincher and Spike Jonze are to be congratulated for trying to help bring attention of a film our critic thinks is the best of the year so far.

Not Quite Up to "Speed"

05/09/2008

Even though Speed Racer has the crazed look and feel of a Hunter S. Thompson hallucination, it’s ultimately nothing more than a gonzo copout.

A Pair of Very Personal Debuts

05/07/2008

For documentary filmmakers Irene Taylor Brodsky and Ben Byer, an intimate personal knowledge of disability and disease has translated into success on the film festival circuit.

Better Romcom Than "Red"

05/02/2008

After several successful attempts at subverting genre with the theme of masculine amorality, playwright-filmmaker David Mamet falls flat on the mat with Redbelt.

Defiling the "Auteur" Theory

04/25/2008

Though not quite a video store clerk turned filmmaker on the level of Quentin Tarantino, Portland, Oregon moviemaker James Westby continues to do his best to stock the New Releases section.

"Forgetting" the Macho Man

04/18/2008

At $400 million and counting, the partnership between Universal Pictures and Judd Apatow looks set to easily pass the half-billion mark this spring with yet another comical look at the imperfections of man.

Film Appreciation "101"

04/10/2008

The trick to enjoying Daniel Waters and Winona Ryder’s reunion flick is to expect a comedy-drama nowhere near as great as their 1989 counterculture classic Heathers.

Kar Wai's Bland Piece of Pie

04/04/2008

Despite strong performances from Norah Jones and Jude Law, Wong Kar Wai’s eighth film just kind of sits there, like a piece of pie that’s been left too long inside a café’s glass case.