Archive for June, 2007

Displaying the usual meticulousness associated with the Pixar brand, “Ratatouille” is a nearly flawless piece of popular art.

“In Between Days” shows that there is still room, even in the midst of the summer glut, for a small, serious, unpretentious film.

“Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” mixes method and madness to chart the evolution of a counterculture phenomenon.

The notion that French cinema consists mainly of pretentious soft-core pornography is an ignorant cliché, but “One to Another” does little to disprove it.

An emotional comedy about three brothers re-forging family bonds on a train ride across the vibrant and sensual landscape of India.

At last, John Travolta wont have to invent excuses for himself to dance, the dancing will happen as a natural part of the script. Travolta will play Edna Turnblad, who Im just going to assume isnt a nearsighted superhero costume designer. Yes, well get to see John Travolta soft-shoeing in drag. The really exciting part of this story is that the films screenplay is written by co-written Leslie Dixon, the guy who co-wrote ILook Whos Talking NowI with Travolta. This officially means Travoltas career is once again dead, doesnt it? Wheres Tarantino?

Everything Brad Bird touches turns to gold, so when Pixars IRatatouilleI faced production troubles he was brought in mid-stream to fix it. It worked. IRatatouilleI continues Pixars unbroken string of filmmaking successes, but if youre ranking Pixar movies it lands somewhere near the bottom. IRatatouilleI is good, but its easily Pixars weakest film since IA Bugs LifeI. For any other studio that would be nails, but when youre measuring against the past work of Bird and Pixar its a mild disappointment.

The Bay Area is so obsessed with food that just finding the latest cheese, the tangiest sourdough or the richest coffee is enough to spark passionate debates. So it's no surprise that Emeryville filmmakers tapped into Northern California's bountiful...

Asger Leth’s “Ghosts of Cité Soleil” offers a tour of a notorious, hellish slum in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

IEveningI is, to put it mildly, not an easy movie to sell to men. Its told from the perspective of Ann Vanessa Redgrave, a woman on her deathbed recalling a pivotal moment in her life 50 years earlier. When she randomly blurts out, Wheres Harris? her grown daughters Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson have no idea what she is talking about. And theres no reason they would--in her near-death state of delirium, she is letting them in on a secret.