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Bamboozled film review

Welcome to a piece of American history. In the old music hall, white comedians and song ‘n’ dance men would splash their faces in charcoal, maybe throw on a pair of white gloves, then go through the step-n-fetchin’ routine, the exotica and the buffoonery of perceived black culture. Jim Crow, Amos ‘n’ Andy, Mammy, L’il ….

Barbershop film review

It seems every black ensemble film these days yanks at the same old yarn of bringing back good values to the ‘hood – keep your nose clean, love thy neighbor, and treat your woman right. But Barbershop, swelling with the classic Horatio Alger-like “Pull your community up by the bootstraps” message, is populated by surprisingly ….

Big Daddy film review

Having seen young Anakin Skywalker in all those commercials, I was curious to see how his pairing with Adam Sandler would pan out in this revisionist Star Wars called, strangely enough, Big Daddy. We are first introduced to a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sandler), who finds his life at a standstill, unable to progress to the ….

Blade 2 film review

The original Blade was a demonstration of frenzied visual effects, a technological vampire bloodbath with no meaning or direction. Although the series is still very physical, emphasizing battle sequences and special effects over story and characters, Blade II knows where the first film went awry and does not repeat those mistakes. Instead of creating a ….

Blade Runner film review

A rare masterpiece in both the sci-fi and film noir genres. Blade Runner makes you think, makes you question reality, and makes you return to watch it again and again. I own both the VHS and the DVD and have seen the movie a dozen times. It gets better with age. The best work of ….

The Bourne Identity film review

Last year, Christopher Nolan took memory loss to a new level with his masterful thriller Memento, in which the hero tattoos notes on his body to help him cope with his condition. This year, the amnesiac champion of The Bourne Identity uses brains and brawn as a means of sorting out his memory loss. Doug ….

The Bourne Supremacy film review

Attention all adventure-starved, action-crazed moviegoers: kennel the cat, wreck the robot, and step on that spider. This summer’s best action hero is not Catwoman, Spider-Man, or a CGI robot – it’s just a dude named Jason Bourne! Matt Damon is back to reprise his role from the widely popular The Bourne Identity as Bourne – ….

The Candidate film review

"Politics is bullshit." Such sentiment, spoken early in the film, sums up The Candidate’s position on politics, not to mention my own. Robert Redford plays the title role, a fresh-faced kid and son of a former governer goaded by a group of campaign strategists (namely Peter Boyle) into running against an "unbeatable" Republican nominee for ….

Casino Royale film review

Though great he may be, there is a limit to the amount of uninterrupted Burt Bacharach music one can endure. And sadly, that limit — of music punctuated by kazoos, harpischords, and accordions — is far less than 137 minutes. There’s also a limit on the length of a spy spoof one can sit through ….

Chasing Liberty film review

If you really want to know what Mandy Moore did last summer, then check out her European travelogue called Chasing Liberty. But be warned, watching her travels in this film makes sitting through the reels of your grandparent’s vacation seem like an easy walk in the park. Moore’s third film about finding true love is ….

The Corpse Bride film review

Year: 2005 Directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson Musical Score by Danny Elfman Screenplay by John August and Pamela Johnson With his second attempt in the feature-length animation genre, “The Corpse Bride” is another visually stunning film from Tim Burton. The story revolves around Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who is about to ….