The Love Letter directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan   The Third Man directed by Carol Reed Kate Capshaw plays Helen, a bookstore owner who discovers an unsigned love letter and obsesses about its author among her kooky employees and quaint neighbors. Her romantic suspicions make her antsy–like a vacationer freaking out from Lyme disease panic. Screenwriter Maria Maggenti rips off the more interesting
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Only Clouds Move the Stars directed by Torun Lian Passing off a canard as insight, Vincent Canby in the March 25 New York Times slapped Steven Spielberg with this backhanded compliment: “He has a child’s-eye view of the universe. He demonstrates an uncanny appreciation for children’s fears and fantasies… To hail him as an Eisenstein is to mislead him and the public.”
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The 24 Hour Woman directed by Nancy Savoca Ten years into her movie career, Rosie Perez plays a spoiled white woman’s fantasy in The 24 Hour Woman. This isn’t progress; it’s a trap. As Grace Santos, she suffers arriviste abundance: work at a New York television show, marriage to an up-and-coming actor, a comfortable apartment and fertility. Grace already has everything but
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In Dreams directed by Neil Jordan Neil Jordan knows what the screen is for. That’s unusual for an artist who began in literature, but right for one who used words to evoke feelings and images. His new movie In Dreams overflows with sights that suggest an artist has opened up his subconscious for public display. This is not a gift to
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Hurlyburly directed by Anthony Drazan Don’t miss Sean Penn’s extraordinary performance in Hurlyburly. I know for a fact that very few critics saw Hurlyburly at the time most of the awards groups voted (mea culpa) so no critics’ trophies point in the direction of Penn’s honesty and daring. But though Nick Nolte is prizeworthy (in Affliction or anything else), Penn’s
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The Swindle directed by Claude Chabrol   Mississippi Mermaid directed by François Truffaut Chabrol continues the New Wave interest in forcing movies to reveal the nature of human behavior by manipulating dramatic and social conventions. Typically combining once familiar genres–the heist comedy and the romantic adventure–Chabrol causes viewers to reconsider their responses. His ease at showing the hidden psychology of Victor (Michel Serrault)
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Another Day in Paradise directed by Larry Clark Levi’s new tv ad features a pig-faced young actress who might have been in Larry Clark’s odious, factitious debut film Kids. She stares into the camera, bright and insolent, giving an insipid political testimony: “I think you ought to work for what you get. Like a big house, nobody should give that to
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