Arts + Life

The Coens haven't dug themselves too deeply into the hole of an uneven comedy.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

Throughout this Cannes-winning, almost docudrama, Van Sant turns our expectations upside down.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

What's in the name of a place? Tombstone, Columbine? The former conjures up thoughts of heroic justice, the latter mass murder. Understanding the motives of Wyatt Earp or Dillon Klebold is not as easy as the place names; interpreting a film about either event as antiviolence is not easy either.

"Spartan" may be the best spy movie ever made by a practicing playwright/director.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

"Touching the Void" is satisfyingly serious stuff.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

"Touching the Void" is what successful docudrama should be: thoroughly accurate and terrifyingly dramatic. The accuracy comes from the narration by original climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates; the drama comes from British filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September--the terrorist attack on the 1972 Israeli Olympic team in Munich).

I found the ultimate stoner flick.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

I found the ultimate stoner flick, "Starsky and Hutch," a nonsensical satire of the'70's TV show that is so sweet I might even suggest my 11 year old friend, Mariah, see it for a glimpse into the loose, lush, and lurid world her parents experienced at her age.

It's arid and slow.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

The director has not asked any more of us than that we affirm life.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

Like any top-rate documentary, applications to human nature and current events abound.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

I do hope there is a heaven, so I finally can ask to see a life of Christ worthy of its subject.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

I came into "The Passion of the Christ" an agnostic; I left a true believer in the power of marketing. Director Mel Gibson has promoted this film to all of Christendom and more, engaging the pope enough to publicize his alleged remark that the film shows the way it was.

"The Dreamers" is no shock despite its NC-17 rating.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

If you're not shocked to see an anesthetized audience of young people watching Sam Fuller's 1963 "Shock Corridor" during the student revolts of 1968, then you may understand why Bernardo Bertolucci's ("Last Tango in Paris") "The Dreamers" is no shock despite it NC-17 rating.

The most imaginative lampoon of 2 societies.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

When does strange become entertaining? When does satire become art? When does cartoon eclipse film? It all happens in writer/director Sylvain Chomet's French Canadian "The Triplets of Belleville." Bypass your Burton (Tim, that is) and discover that this film is the most imaginative lampoon of 2 societies in at least a decade, maybe forever.

"Miracle" is what American filmmakers do best.

By John DeSando. WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

"Seabiscuit" on ice? "Miracle" is what American filmmakers do best: a rousing true tale of an underdog overcoming insurmountable odds to win the prize. Director Gavin O'Connor's dramatization of the 1980 USA Winter Olympic team's victory over Russia's juggernaut champions for 15 years is even more exuberant than the horse race because the team represented the renewal of American spirit in times gloomy in the recounting. "Mighty Ducks" this is not.

The director should stick with the mumbling, overlapping dialogue of his great films.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

I finally found a film about an artist that doesn't insult me.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

I finally found a film about an artist that doesn't insult me. I want to see the artistic process unfold, feel the artist's need for inspiration, and see him struggle with making paints and finding light. All this occurs in director Peter Webber's "Girl with a Pearl Earring," the best I have seen about an artist.

Perfect for an agnostic.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

Two superlatives apply to writer/director Patty Jenkins' "Monster": best actress and grimmest film of 2003.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

We use our little symbolic toys to look at the films of 2003.

By John DeSando and Clay Lowe

In 2003 actors dreamed about being politicians and politicians dreamed about being film stars. Filmmakers had a jolly time playing with reality, but then that is the stuff of which their dreams are made.

As we attempt to pull together significant films from 2003, we needed to decide what form of reality we should take: film critics? historians? or just our plain old grumpy selves?

You may be ready to understand your parents better than you thought possible.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

Here is modern tragedy like no other in 2003.

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"

Here is modern tragedy like no other in 2003. While A.O. Scott in the "New York Times" reminded us of "Antigone's" "two rights adding up to a monstrous wrong," I will take one further step to say debut director Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog" has many of the tragic elements found in most Greek dramas centuries ago.

"21 Grams" is the most existential film of 2003

By John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time"