Gods and Generals, the prequel to Gettysburg and the first episode in an epic but non-sequential Civil War trilogy, is only slightly shorter than the war itself. Once you factor in the trailers, the commercials, and the intermission, this will be an over-four-hour movie experience. I wouldn’t even want to make out with Jennifer Garner […]
Jon Popick
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I’m hooked on you
If somebody told me Kim Ki-Duk’s The Isle was equal parts Takashi Miike (Audition) and Shohei Imamura (Warm Water Under a Red Bridge), I’d probably either drop dead from laughter (because it sounds so improbable), or immediately head down to the Dryden Theatre to be the first in line for the February 15 screening (because […]
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Florida: It’s not just for voter fraud anymore
It’s not difficult to pinpoint the exact instant I stopped enjoying the fifth annual Sarasota Film Festival. The moment occurred when, kicking and screaming, I was forced onto the flight that returned me to Rochester and its subzero temperatures. Piles of sand turned to mounds of snow. Palm trees became ice-encrusted bushes. Scores and scores […]
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Headline
Sarasota Film Festival|The Intended|He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not|Spellbound|Manic|The Backyard|Tribute: A Rockumentary Movies by Jon Popick Florida: It’s not just for voter fraud anymore It’s not difficult to pinpoint the exact instant I stopped enjoying the fifth annual Sarasota Film Festival. The moment occurred when, kicking and screaming, I was forced onto the flight […]
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Life’s a drag, then you die of poison cocoa
Mike Leigh’s All or Nothing focuses mainly on the Bassett family, who live and/or work in Southeast London. Well, maybe “live” isn’t the right verb — “exist” might be more appropriate. They seem to have a nice, normal family life, but are far too miserable to appreciate it. Phil (Timothy Spall) is the father, […]
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The lies of the Godfather of reality
There are more than a handful of high-profile films in theaters right now, and they’re all vying for both Oscar attention and your hard-earned money. Two of them happen to be the directorial debut of even higher-profile, larger-than-life movie stars, and, coincidentally, both focus on real people and actual events. But that’s where the similarities […]
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The rebirth of cool
On the surface, Narc sounds like the kind of flick that should be going straight to either video or cable. I had never heard of the director (Joe Carnahan), and the two leads (Jason Patric and Ray Liotta) are hardly the stuff of dreams. So what am I missing here? Why the hell is this […]
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The loneliest piano player in the world
The Pianist is the first film director Roman Polanski has made in Poland since his very first feature. It’s also, according to the press notes, the film he’s waited his entire career to make. It’s too bad he waited so long, because if Polanski had made The Pianist a little earlier into his career, it […]
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Making nice with the musical
Let me preface this review by saying I generally despise musicals in a very, very serious way. I still have nightmares about Moulin Rouge, and the mere thought of seeing The Producers on Broadway is nearly enough to make me vomit blood. I bought my mom the Sound of Music DVD last Christmas, with the […]
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The Gang’s all here — let the Oscar race begin
Gangs of New York, the year’s most eagerly anticipated film (aside from the one following this review), plays like a who’s who of AWOL Hollywood heavyweights. Director Martin Scorsese hasn’t been seen in theaters since Kundun in 1997 (I like to pretend Bringing Out the Dead never happened). Ditto for stars Daniel Day-Lewis (1997’s The […]
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Running away from life’s troubles
There are an alarming number of mediocre movies that have grand designs on educating moviegoers about important historical events. As a critic, I’m put in a weird situation in which I’m obligated to point out a picture’s weaknesses, but do so at the risk of incurring the wrath of readers for whom whatever real-life event […]
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Bad actress plays bad actress — details at 11
I’m going to be honest with you, dear readers. I haven’t budgeted my time properly and now, faced with the problem of having to both watch and critique a two-and-a-half hour movie in approximately two-and-a-half hours, I’ve decided to try something new and exciting (and timesaving) — the simultaneous viewing and reviewing of a film. […]
