comickoz

"Changing Lanes" offers an intriguing look at modern-day morality, with Sam Jackson and Ben Affleck as two fundamentally decent guys pushed into terrible moral compromises by fate. It is compelling with multiple twists all the way through that actually make sense (a rarity these days), and actually requires Ben Affleck to act for the first time since "Good Will Hunting." I can't imagine why the rating is so low overall when it just played to non-stop sold-out shows tonight here in Chicago and the audible audience response was intense and positive.

"Monster's Ball" works on so many levels so well that it's almost impossible to describe. This is one of those rare movies where you really want to know as little as possible going into the theater because the twists in its plot are so amazing that they will render you heartbroken several times if they are allowed to hit you with the full force of surprise. It also has one of the most perfect and beautiful endings i've seen in film. I and my date both sat back in our seats for a long while after the movie was over and talked about this one, because it was so perfect it was hard to want to get up and leave the theater and shatter the spell it put on us. Halle Berry is truly a fantastic actress. Her performance made me cry several times in the film without ever feeling like she was reaching for the emotion or forcing a five-hanky movie. Billy Bob does what he does best: playing a warmly human man with dreams that are simple but at least he strives to make them come true. A truly perfect film. See it!

"The Royal Tenenbaums" marks a huge artistic leap for Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, who have already written two of the most brilliant movies of the past five years and maybe ever: "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore." What's amazing about this film is that they have gone from making "Bottle Rocket" with only a supporting performance by a washed up star (James Caan, who's great nonetheless) and now attracted one of the best casts imaginable (Hackman, Paltrow, Stiller, Murray, Glover, Huston) while upping the ante of creativity instead of selling out. It's amazing how all of the characters have an incredible amount of quirks while remaining totally believable and touching. Hackman breaks out of his rut of playing crusty authority figures and creates a one-of-a-kind character that is fully realized and funny. Alec Baldwin's voiceover work places viewers squarely into storybook land, a perfect touch. GO SEE THIS MOVIE AND SHOW HOLLYWOOD THAT ORIGINALITY DESERVES TO BE REWARDED!

I liked Richard Gere in Primal Fear but not much else, usually he's simply being a pretty boy in movies. But i went to see this movie because a local newspaper's critic said "This is the scariest movie I've ever seen" and then gave no details because she said that knowing anything would take away from that. So that's all I'm saying. SEE IT and PREPARE TO BE DISTURBED. It's really well done too. The director is a genius. Check out his first film, "Arlington Road," too.

Apparently some people just don't get this movie. Even the pro reviewers here in Chicago were wildly disagreeing (Tribune 1 1/2 stars, Ebert 3 stars but rave comments). I saw this in a sold-out theater that went bonkers start to finish laughing, howling, and finally clapping. Not only is it funny, the acting was so solid by Hanks and Fisk that it really made me forget they were related to big stars and especially with Hanks this was one of the best portrayals of a teenager I've ever seen (and I've been around since the Hughes wave in the '80s). This movie was also better than any Hughes movie short of "Ferris" and "16 Candles" because it was funny while also being about something more than a prom or the big party or the big game. The situations in this film, while wildly satirized, are ones that anyone can relate to: finding your place in the world, how to deal with your family in a time of change while learning to be your own person. I was also impressed with the massive list of stars in the supporting cast, believe me, they dug the script (i'm a film-biz reporter and interviewed Harold Ramis 3 months ago and he said he rarely acts anymore but couldn't turn down this script). At any rate, I think you'd have to be deaf, blind and definitely dumb to not enjoy this movie. Can a collective 200 people in a theater laughing so hard that some followup lines couldn't even be heard, ALL be wrong? I give this a 9/10.

"The Royal Tenenbaums" marks a huge artistic leap for Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, who have already written two of the most brilliant movies of the past five years and maybe ever: "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore." What's amazing about this film is that they have gone from making "Bottle Rocket" with only a supporting performance by a washed up star (James Caan, who's great nonetheless) and now attracted one of the best casts imaginable (Hackman, Paltrow, Stiller, Murray, Glover, Huston) while upping the ante of creativity instead of selling out. It's amazing how all of the characters have an incredible amount of quirks while remaining totally believable and touching. Hackman breaks out of his rut of playing crusty authority figures and creates a one-of-a-kind character that is fully realized and funny. Alec Baldwin's voiceover work places viewers squarely into storybook land, a perfect touch. GO SEE THIS MOVIE AND SHOW HOLLYWOOD THAT ORIGINALITY DESERVES TO BE REWARDED!

This is a movie for everyone who ever felt like the little person, overlooked by those who were bigger or more popular. "Rudy" had kind of a lame title for a sports movie, and i remember the first time I saw a preview of it, I was totally moved and involved by the scenes and then guffawed aloud at the end when the announcer intoned, "RUDY." That set the rest of the theater laughing too, so imagine my surprise when i saw it a couple months later and it was a 10 out of 10 in my book. I'm not even a sports fan but this movie got me. It shows the power of faith to get by with any frustration in life, the performances are great and it's a shame that Sean Astin had to wait eight years to get another great break with "Lord of the Rings." His is a worldclass performance in this film, see it as it is one of the most inspiring films you'll ever see.

OK, first off there may be a SPOILER here since i don't know what constitutes giving out too much information. My subject line says it all but surely people will want to know WHY it's so stupid.

First off, this film follows a bunch of Yuppies as they go to a sports game in Chicago but wind up taking the wrong exit and winding up in the ghetto. Scary, huh? Well, first of all, Emilio is driving everyone in the world's most overblown RV/Winnebago, tricked out with satellite dishes and crap like that on it. So these guys are GOING to a sports game (i forget which, though likely the Bulls or the White Sox since they're near the oh-so-scary ghetto), yet they can't even make it down the freeway without having an onboard viewing command center that would put ESPN to shame. Yet they're smart enough to earn livings that would pay for the stuff, but are such sports fans that they don't even know which exit to get off at on their way to the game they so love.

I gave up on the movie within a half hour after that, but the reasons were plentiful. They wind up IN THE GHETTO, yet their main danger to their existence is DENIS LEARY. A WHITE GUY. I'm no racist, but COME ON. In anything RESEMBLING reality - and this film WAS trying to be an urban nightmare - Denis Leary would not be trying to kill Emilio Estevez, he'd be hitching a ride to get the f*** out of Dodge himself!!!

This is easily one of the dumbest movies ever created, although I'm not familiar with much of the rest of the world's cinema. If MST3K were still on, they surely would have devoted an episode to this one.