THE VILLAGE
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  Year Released: 2004 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 120 minutes |
IN THEATERS! Shyamalan has always known his way around a creepy mood, and “The Village” is no exception. He’s abetted this time by the great DP Roger Deakins, who makes the surrounding woods loom like icy death itself. The actors, though…
Posted on July 31, 2004 by Chad Bixby
GRAND THEFT PARSONS
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  Year Released: 2003 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 87 minutes |
IN LIMITED RELEASE! David Caffrey’s gentle-spirited comedy-drama “Grand Theft Parsons” is based on a legendary rock’n'roll incident so strange it could only have happened in early-’70s Southern California…
Posted on June 18, 2004 by Chad Bixby
TIPTOES
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  Year Released: 2003 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
THE GREAT TRAINWRECK OF SUNDANCE 2004? Any amount of affection I have for the people involved in “Tiptoes” couldn’t make me like this ridiculous, sloppy and poorly written film. “Tiptoes” is just baffling in its lameness…
Posted on January 30, 2004 by Chad Bixby
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
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Year Released: 2003 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 97 minutes |
SUNDANCE 2004 PREMIERE! Dillon’s character gives us the aforementioned “inner-monologue.” Zahn gives us a men –vs- women monologue that seems like it was left on the trash heap from a Kevin Smith movie. Then, the “plot” becomes totally convoluted and twisted…
Posted on January 20, 2004 by Chad Bixby
NIGHTSTALKER
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Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 95 minutes |
SCREENING AT THE CINEVEGAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL! Here Ramirez is more of a Jason or Freddy figure; a purely murderous monster. Played by Bret Roberts, who looks disconcertingly like the real Ramirez, this Nightstalker is not really a character himself, but rather a bogeyman, ricocheting around the late-night streets of L.A., rocking out to lightning-speed death metal and snorting masses of meth…
Posted on June 14, 2003 by Chad Bixby
CHERISH
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 100 minutes |
IN THEATERS! A strained romantic comedy that starts promisingly, takes a hard left turn and slowly falls apart…
Posted on June 7, 2002 by Chad Bixby
MANT
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 101 minutes |
Released in October 1962, on the very eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis, “Mant” is the enduring sci-fi classic that made the giant ants in “Them” look like gnats…
Posted on April 1, 2002 by Chad Bixby
THE FLOWER THAT DRANK THE MOON
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 100 minutes |
The girl is half-Jewish and half-Japanese. Played with spellbinding delicacy by a brilliantly tanned Gwyneth Paltrow…
Posted on April 1, 2002 by Chad Bixby
I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING
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Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 32 minutes |
SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION SHORT! It has its moments, but a bit of humor and a snappier pace wouldn’t have hurt…
Posted on January 12, 2002 by Chad Bixby
SASTUN: MY APPRENTICESHIP WITH A MAYA HEALER
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Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 20 minutes |
SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL LOUNGE SHORT! This is a fascinating and poignant documentary…
Posted on January 12, 2002 by Chad Bixby
VESSEL WRESTLING
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 13 minutes |
SCREENING AT THE CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL! Lisa Yu is an animation talent to watch. The multi-award-winning “Vessel Wrestling” has little in the way of narrative, but boasts an abundance of striking imagery throughout. If this ticklish little film is about anything, it is pure, primal appetite…
Posted on January 12, 2002 by Chad Bixby
THE MAN WITH A DV CAM
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Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 10 minutes |
SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION SHORT! Just because you have a DV camera doesn’t mean you can actually use it…
Posted on January 12, 2002 by Chad Bixby
WOOLY BULLY
FEATURE REVIEW! The teenagers in “Bully” don’t give a damn about anything but screwing, drugging, surfing and killing one of their own. It’s quite well made, skillfully directed and masterfully acted. It’s also completely repellent and ultimately pointless…
Posted on July 13, 2001 by Chad Bixby
