24 Sep 2002

Hawn and Sarandon Miraculous as "The Banger Sisters": Also, "The Four Feathers" and "Trapped"

By Mike Schulz

Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn in The Banger SistersTHE BANGER SISTERS

The Banger Sisters is a textbook example of the alchemy that can occur when two movie stars, stuck in a rather worthless vehicle, say, "What the hell, let's run with it."

29 Jan 2002

I Damn "Sam": "I Am Sam," "The Mothman Prophecies," and "No Man's Land"

By Mike Schulz

Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning in I Am SamI AM SAM

How does one begin to discuss the blinding idiocies of I Am Sam? This comic weepie about Sam (Sean Penn), a mentally challenged Starbucks employee trying to retain custody of his young daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning), is so shockingly offensive, both thematically and as a work of cinema, as to defy rational analysis, so here's a brief checklist of what made me want to bash my head in:

31 Jul 2001

Take the Ride to a New "Planet": "Planet of the Apes" and "America's Sweethearts"

By Mike Schulz

Tim Roth and Mark Wahlberg in Planet of the ApesPLANET OF THE APES

My guess is that Tim Burton's "re-imagining" of Planet of the Apes will meet the same fate as 1999's The Blair Witch Project and last year's X-Men: It'll stand as the most misunderstood, and least appreciated, blockbuster of the summer.

02 Nov 2000

Dim and Dimmer: "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" and "Lucky Numbers"

By Mike Schulz

Kim Director and Erica Leerhsen in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2

Let's face it: There was plenty of built-in expectation with the arrival of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, and the expectation was that the film would suck. Those who loved The Blair Witch Project, as I did, would miss that film's cinéma vérité style and simplicity, and rail on about how Book of Shadows was exactly the kind of dumbed-down splatter flick that Blair Witch rebelled against. Those who hated the original, which seems the more common response (at least among my acquaintances), would have their beliefs confirmed that the whole Blair Witch "mythology" is lame, and that we've been hoodwinked by marketing and Internet paranoia into making these movies hits. Wouldn't it be great to report that this sequel had defied its skeptics and emerged as smashing entertainment?

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