[National Review Online, January 27, 2006]
The best line in âNanny McPheeâ is not actually spoken; it's merely exhaled through Emma Thompson's prodigious nose, a quietly observant âHmmm.â
You may not remember Thompson's nose being particularly notable in such arched-pinky movies as âHoward's End,â âThe Remains of the Day,â and various Shakespeare and Jane Austen productions. But here it is bulbous and red,
[Review of Faith & International Affairs, Winter 2005-2006]
In âParadise Now,â a new movie from director Hany Abu-Assad, there's a moment when the character Khaled (Ali Suliman) does a good imitation of a Wild West gunslinger. He faces a corner and then spins back out on one foot, turning toward his pals with a âquick drawâ gesture and a grin.
The joke is that he has just had a set of explosives strapped to his chest.
[Beliefnet.com, December 9, 2005]âDeeper Magic.â No, thatâs not the name of a new ecstasy-inducing shampoo. It âs the two little words that tradition-minded Christians will be listening for as they watch Disneyâs new family blockbuster, âThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.â This dazzling film includes just about everything a child could want for Christmas: evil spells, talking animals, spectacular battles, and four apparently-ordinary siblings who discover that they can be heroes.
[National Review Online, December 9, 2005]
Any director who attempts to bring a beloved novel to the screen can expect his fair share of slings and arrows. Just ask Peter Jackson, the hardworking genius behind the âLord of the Ringsâ trilogy, or any of the parade of directors who have delivered âHarry Potterâ films. The latest to step up for a smackdown is Andrew Adamson, previously known for âShrek,â as he offers his fresh and magnificent production of C.S. Lewis' novel, âThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.â
Unlike the âPotterâ directors, Adamson has not only junior readers to please
[National Review Online, November 18, 2005]
Someone watching âWalk the Line,â the immensely enjoyable 20th Century Fox movie about Johnny Cash, would gather the impression that Cash had something to do with music. Yes, we see him on stage frequently, and are treated to numerous song fragments. But music isn't what the movie is about. Instead, it's chiefly about his relationships with women - a first marriage troubled by his infidelity and addiction, a descent to the depths, a long yearning for another woman, and her eventual consent.
[National Review Online, November 11, 2005]
Keira Knightley has a way of squinting -- narrowing her eyes and looking simultaneously skeptical and perky - that I just can't believe they had invented in the early 19th century. This stands out solely because everything else about this production of âPride and Prejudiceâ is so well-appointed, from the gently-worn blue paint on the walls to the cotton lace on the pillows. Jane Austen's 1813 novel has been brought to the big and little screens many times before, but this new version, directed by Joe Wright, can't be beat. It is charming, lively, and satisfyingly authentic.
[National Review Online, November 4, 2005]
Is the big green head of the Wizard of Oz still scary? It sure used to be. Back in the days when âThe Wizard of Ozâ was broadcast once each Spring, the moment when that looming lightbulb head boomed âSilence!â was the closest a seven-year-old came to numinous awe. (Though it was the witch cackling âI'll get you, my pretty,â that caused my little sister's feet to thump-thump-thump away down the hall.)
I ask because a good bit of âChicken Littleâ is just as scary. Giant heads looming out of darkness and thundering âSilence!â is just one example.
[NationalReview Online, October 18, 2005]
You had me at âSpasmotica.â
Cameron Crowe, director of âElizabethtown,â has a knack for the perfect detail. In âElizabethtown,â one of them comes along at the start: a billion dollars' worth of high-end athletic shoes are being returned to the factory, and on each box the ultra-hip name reads âSpasmotica.â With two dots over the first âaâ.
[National Review Online, October 11, 2005]
About midway through âIn Her Shoesâ we see Rose Feller (Toni Collette, always a delight), semi-professional dogwalker, being yanked down the streets of Philadelphia by a team of mismatched pooches. It's a good metaphor for this film, which is propelled by several different stories at once, and some are livelier than others.
That's an eye-of-the-beholder thing, of course, and there were many in the audience who were happy-teary puddles by the end of the film. A great majority of that audience segment was female, and many of them were wearing red hats. If you don't fit that category, approach with caution.
[National Review Online, September 29, 2005]
Watching Roman Polanski's diligently faithful version of âOliver Twistâ prompts the question: how did anyone ever think they could get a musical out of this material? For 40 years now children have been prancing around theater stages, grinning and shouting about âFood, Glorious Food,â little aware of the relentless gloominess of the original. The darkness of Charles Dickens' 1838 novel must have come as a surprise even at the time; his only previous book was âThe Pickwick Papers,â a jolly diversion. Dickens' fans eagerly awaited his second work, and as they paged through âOliver Twistâ it must have been as if Dave Barry had released âThe Gulag Archipelago.â