Arts + Life

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10:19am

Sat June 4, 2005
Movie Reviews

The Adventures of Shark Boy <br> & Lava Girl in 3-D

A bung-hole stopper

Robert Rodriguez stunned the cinema world about a dozen years ago with the low budget El Mariachi, a story of mistaken identity, a lethal guitar case, and a mariachi who just wants to play his instrument. Since then, the director has not had to scrounge for money and exceeds expectations with movies as varied as Spy Kids and Sin City.

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3:05pm

Sun May 29, 2005
Movie Reviews

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

You'll care about each girl.

The only magic realism in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the one, one-size-fits-all pair of jeans worn by four teenage friends, whose summer adventures bring a dose of realism magical only for the insights into life, the pain and pleasure that come in from age seventeen to the end. As a coming-of-age film, this ranks with the best of them for non-condescending, adult-like perceptions, with nary a "like" in the girls' vocabulary.

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9:00am

Sun May 29, 2005
Movie Reviews

Cinderella Man

An indomitable America coming back.

"Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep . . ." Hamlet

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4:26pm

Sun May 22, 2005
Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith

Otherworldly

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1:44pm

Wed May 11, 2005
Movie Reviews

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Energetic Hubris.

"Ask why" was the mantra of one of the most remarkable companies in the history of modern society: Enron. And not one, not even the venerable accounting firm of Arthur Anderson, asked that question. So the little energy company that could amassed billions of dollars through deceptive accounting practices, mainly by stating profit based on future earnings (HFV=hypothetical future value) and shipping losses to offshore shell companies.

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1:17pm

Mon May 9, 2005
Movie Reviews

Mindhunters

A modicum of intelligence and suspense

Second-tier director Renny Harlin should have hunted for minds other than these two pedigreed writers to elevate Mindhunters from the banal to the mediocre. Or better yet, when he cast Val Kilmer for no more than a ten-minute part and Christian Slater for a bit more, all crew should have fled knowing the curse that lies under billing stars with brief parts.

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12:33pm

Mon May 9, 2005
Movie Reviews

Dear Frankie

Balanced and focused.

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3:59pm

Thu May 5, 2005
Movie Reviews

House of Wax

Welcome to the best freak show so far in 2005.

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11:11am

Mon May 2, 2005
Movie Reviews

Kingdom of Heaven

Credit the director and writer for balancing the guilt and horror among Christians, Jews, and Arabs.

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2:34pm

Wed April 27, 2005
Movie Reviews

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Exhausting and entertaining.

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10:03am

Wed April 27, 2005
Movie Reviews

Winter Solstice

Seinfeld without the humor.

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9:27am

Wed April 20, 2005
Movie Reviews

The Interpreter

Predictable but enjoyable.

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1:32pm

Thu April 7, 2005
Movie Reviews

The Downfall

Eminently worth seeing.

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11:22am

Mon April 4, 2005
Movie Reviews

Off the Map

Eccentric and satisfying.

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11:01am

Wed March 30, 2005
Movie Reviews

Melinda and Melinda

The best Woody in years.

Manhattan still drives Woody Allen crazy: Urbanites are prey to ambition and lust, pride and diffidence and even sound like Woody with their halting sentences, paranoid affectations, and occasionally witty lines tossed off like the dregs of their grande lattes. Melinda and Melinda is a petting zoo of needy moderns who most of all want to find love, which eludes them right up to the last cliffhanging moment.

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10:46am

Wed March 30, 2005
Movie Reviews

Frank Miller's Sin City

Everything a comic book/film buff could want.

"By Jove! I've never seen anything so unreal in my life. And

earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or

truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic

invasion." Joseph Conrad's Marlow in Heart of Darkness

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2:41pm

Tue March 29, 2005
Movie Reviews

Millions

A tribute to a director who makes children interesting and wise and movies for everyone.

"Radix malorum cupiditas est."

("The root of evil is greed.") The Pardoner's Tale

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3:15pm

Tue March 15, 2005
Movie Reviews

Bad Education

The director aims at the heart of sin, Catholic guilt, and changing mores.

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1:26pm

Sun March 13, 2005
Movie Reviews

Steamboy

Thrilling and serious about the future of mankind.

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1:50pm

Tue March 8, 2005
Movie Reviews

Bride and Prejudice

Hollywood musicals are better.

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