Author: jose

As a fan of horror auteurs who carve their own path outside of the studio system, it brings me no joy to slam the door on this genre address.

The deceptive thrill of director Jody McVeigh-Schultz’s approach to “Spy High” is in playing with the typical sympathy we might feel for a documentary protagonist.

This review was originally published on October 25, 1996 If anybody ever wrote a Field Guide to Alcoholics, with descriptions of their appearance, sexual behavior and habitats, there would be a full-color portrait on the cover of Tommy, the hero of “Trees Lounge.” Steve Buscemi, who plays Tommy and also wrote and directed the film, […]

This is the kind of film black filmmakers are rarely able to get made these days, offering roles for actors who remind us here of their gifts.

This review was originally published on June 19, 2001. Sean Penn‘s “The Pledge” begins as a police story and spirals down into madness. It provides Jack Nicholson with one of his best roles in recent years, as a retired cop who makes a promise and tries to keep it. Like their previous film together as […]

This review was originally published on June 16, 1995. “Smoke” is a beguiling film about words, secrets and tobacco. It takes place among lonely men and a few women who build a little world in the middle of a big city, a world based on sadness, secrets, killing time and enjoying a good smoke. Like […]

This review was originally published on August 29, 1997. “Gamera: Guardian of the Universe” is precisely the kind of movie that I enjoy, despite all rational reasoning. How, you may ask, can I possibly prefer this Japanese monster film about a jet-powered turtle to a megabudget solemnity like “Air Force One“? It has laughable acting, […]

This review was originally published on October 16, 1987. This movie is awake. I have seen so many films that were sleepwalking through the debris of old plots and second-hand ideas that it was a constant pleasure to watch “House of Games,” a movie about con men that succeeds not only in conning the audience, […]

This review was originally published on June 23, 2005. Miranda July‘s “Me and You and Everyone We Know” is a film that with quiet confidence creates a fragile magic. It’s a comedy about falling in love when, for you, love requires someone who speaks your rare emotional language. Yours is a language of whimsy and […]

This review was originally published on June 6, 2008. Jeff Nichols‘ “Shotgun Stories” is shaped and told like a revenge tragedy, but it offers an unexpected choice: The hero of the film does not believe the future is doomed by the past. If it were, most of the key characters would be dead by the […]