This film was unavailable to me in my conservative military town, but Britt Augenfield at Special Ops Media was kind enough to provide me with a screening DVD. Thanks, Britt!
The filmmakers (Barbara Kopple and Cecelia Peck) wisely created a double movie with this documentary. On one side, it’s a detailed snapshot of America […]

Whether it wants to admit it or not, Dreamgirls wants to be this year’s Chicago – a splashy, gorgeous adaptation of a beloved 1970-80’s Broadway hit. Screenwriter/director Bill Condon (whose screenplay for Chicago was nominated for an Oscar) has the chops to adapt it, but the Dreamgirls show itself lacks the dark fantasy of […]

If you are not already a fan of this comedy folk-meta duo, then this movie may not be your best entertainment dollar spent. Cast in the same “Love Letter to the Fans” mold as Wayne’s World, The Pick of Destiny is a short and sweet warrior romp for the fans, charting the D’s humble […]

Longtime Cinerina readers know that I am not so much a fun of Robert Altman. It’s not that I think he’s a hack or anything, but I find that his movies more frequently exhaust me than inspire me. I respect the naturalistic feel of his overlapping dialogue, but find that I lose too […]

Susan Strohman brought this musical stage adaptation of the 1968 Mel Brooks film to Broadway in 2001 and the entire universe simply had to have it. Now Strohman brings exactly that show (but with a few more locations) to the big screen. It’s like the fanciest A&E/BBC presentation of a stage hit […]

“It’s not Boheme,” sing the Forbidden Broadway parodists who make fun of Rent’s pretensions to Puccini’s original work. In that opera, bohemia means rejecting the comforts of the establishment/bourgeoisie, choosing poverty and suffering as the only means to truly be alive. In Rent, bohemia appears to want to mean this, but it comes […]

Comparisons to last year’s “poor boy makes good with raw talent, almost ruins it with drugs and womanizing, and then redeems self” award-winning biopic Ray are inevitable, so let’s just get it out of the way now. Walk the Line does less than Ray in showing us the character that made the man’s music, […]

I was dreading a snooze such as the kind that was always brought on by A Nightmare Before Christmas. During that film I fell asleep in the theatre, and on every subsequent attempt to watch it at home, before 30 minutes could pass. Beautiful, but deadly dull. Corpse Bride was well on […]

A Bollywood take (complete with songs and dancing) on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice brought to you by the same team that brought you Bend it Like Beckham? Well, one thing is clear - you will end up smiling. Re-imagining the Bennett family as Indians whose mother is feverish to marry them off, […]

In a year that has brought us some truly exceptional biopics, Beyond the Sea is not playing in the clearest of fields. While there is no denying Kevin Spacey’s acting and singing performance is absolutely terrific, and while the interesting task of directing this tale (also Spacey) poses a unique challenge what with all […]