Movie review by Greg Carlson In “Red Eye,” beloved genre director Wes Craven deftly handles a ridiculously illogical screenplay that reaches for the single-mindedness of Hitchcock thrillers like “Rope” and “Lifeboat.” Brief in both duration and intellect, “Red Eye” keeps expectations low as it races through its mostly predictable contents and coasts on the charm […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Multi-talented visual and performing artist Miranda July delivers an incredibly sure-handed feature film debut with “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” easily one of the year’s most insightful and challenging movies. Having already collected prizes at major film festivals, July’s film is a triumph of ensemble performing, especially noteworthy […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Despite a faithful fan following that clings to the memories of fabulous work like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Brazil,” Terry Gilliam remains one of the most disappointing major filmmakers of the last thirty-plus years. While many of Gilliam’s visually rich motion pictures contain stunning moments from one […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Writer-director Jim Jarmusch, a longtime cult favorite among fans of smart, self-aware comedies pregnant with arid wit, has made one of the year’s best films in “Broken Flowers.” Equally crafty and stirring, the great filmmaker forges a terrific partnership with Bill Murray, who previously appeared with the Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Writer-director Craig Brewer’s “Hustle & Flow” has already been the subject of much discussion regarding its depiction of a Memphis pimp who dreams of hip-hop stardom as a way out of his miserable economic straits. Cinema routinely depicts unsavory anti-heroes and morally compromised protagonists, but the inherent misogyny of pimping […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Another questionable TV series turned feature, the big screen “Dukes of Hazzard” arrives in theatres likely to draw the coveted young male demographic. With its attention span-deprived plotting and its healthy doses of fast cars and attractive young women, the film remains surprisingly faithful to its small screen counterpart, which […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson A preposterous slice of military escapism, “Stealth” is so far removed from reality that it might best be considered a work of science fiction. Whipping up a head-scratching concoction of such disparate influences as “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Top Gun,” “Stealth” works up a sweat over the moral cost […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson “March of the Penguins,” a grand nature documentary one might expect to find on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, or PBS, makes itself right at home on the big screen, due in large measure to its breathtaking, powerful images. Directed by Luc Jacquet, and originally titled “The Emperor’s March,” the […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson According to popular lore, author Roald Dahl didn’t care much for Mel Stuart’s 1971 film version of his most famous story, so one begins to wonder what he might make of director Tim Burton’s spin on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” had he lived to see it. A solid cult […]

Movie review by Greg Carlson Given the end result, 20th Century Fox might have saved plenty of time and energy had it merely dusted off the ill-fated 1994 version of “Fantastic Four” and slipped that into theatres this week. Widely bootlegged, Oley Sassone’s low-budget disaster has kept FF fans’ hopes alive for a decade that […]