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MOVIE GUIDE: C

Cabaret (1972, Bob Fosse)
Classic musical is fun and very scary. (B)
RELATED: Jay Presson Allen RIP
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919, Robert Wiene)
Truly out-there German Ufa silent classic features eye-popping stylized sets and some wondrous moments, but it only works in fits and starts and is weighed down by a story that makes absolutely no sense. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / disappointments / MENTIONED: City Lights review
Caddyshack (1980, Harold Ramis)
Dull, hamhanded golf comedy has no charm whatsoever, one or two laughs at most; typical '80s waste of a fairly good cast. (C-)

Camelot (1967, Joshua Logan)
Candyfloss junk. (D)

Can't Buy Me Love (1987, Steve Rash)
Hugely creepy teen comedy from the John Hughes era is worse than usual, mostly because of its unapologetic sleaziness. (D)

Cape Fear (1962, J. Lee Thompson)
Essentially useless thriller is a good indicator of what happens when people who have never seen a Hitchcock film try to make one. Gregory Peck is a lawyer being chased around by a man he prosecuted, Robert Mitchum (in a performance basically ripped from the pages of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN). The movie has no resonance, no characterization, no real technical assets, no real value at all. It's pointless. (C-)
REVIEW / LISTED: worst of year / rated / MENTIONED: Klute review
Captain America (1990, Albert Pyun)
Forgotten comic book movie is painful to watch. (D+)

Captain Ron (1992, Thom Eberhardt)
Ladies and gentlemen, the most hateful, evil, nihilistic comedy in the annals of cinema! This film is about misery, the misery of everyone in it, the misery of the actors, the misery of the crew, everybody. The only possible reason one can have to create something like this is a desire to hurt other people. (D-)

Capturing the Friedmans (2003, Andrew Jarecki)
No clear-cut "message," no condescending narration from the filmmakers, no screen appearances by the filmmakers, no kicking people when they're down, not even appropriate pop songs to match the footage, just a powerful, ambiguous, emotionally exhausting true story, brilliantly told, of an accused child molester and the way his family falls apart. In many ways, a masterpiece. (A)
MENTIONED: Devil and Daniel Johnston review
The Care Bears Movie (1985, Arna Selznick)
Is the director related to David, I wonder? How many memos do you suppose she wrote about this? Anyway, this is mostly for kids who are either still breastfeeding or kinda dumb. (D)

Carnival of Souls (1962, Herk Harvey)
Scary, effective and very atmospheric low budget horror film is highly obvious from the get-go and very campy, but still solid and well-shot. The abandoned bath house used by the filmmakers gives them most of their mileage; it's horrifying in itself. Don't miss this film, if only for that. (A-)
REVIEW + DVD review
Carousel (1956, Henry King)
Slick and completely empty Rodgers & Hammerstein musical has only technical qualities to recommend it, so it's best not to recommend it at all. (C)

Cars (2006, John Lasseter)
It's not that this is any less delightful than Pixar's first six films, it's just that it puts on clear display the creative team's growing pains. Funny, sad, hugely entertaining, visually dazzling and all the rest, and there's nothing "missing," but the strain to reach the heartfelt crowd-pleasing finish hurts a bit for the first time since TOY STORY, probably because his surreal, personal film marks the end of an era Lasseter and company founded. (A-)
REVIEW / DVD review / note about release delay / comments about teaser / teaser in front of Narnia / 2006 movie preview: most anticipated of year / world premiere in Charlotte / summer movie preview / initial reaction / bought DVD / LISTED: rated / best of year / movies seen in 06 / RELATED: Ratatouille reaction / Ratatouille review / MENTIONED: comparison of designs to "Story of Anyburg USA" / on the Bubble stunt / article about premiere / box office problems / top ten of the week / 1000th post
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974, Peter Weir)
Exuberantly bizarre Australian sci-fi will double you over; it's a cold calculation, whatever its origins, but it's also a thrill. (A-)

Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz)
It's adored above and beyond any other Hollywood film for good reasons -- its sense of romance and journey breathes life into a brilliantly written and performed story, adding up to a time capsule that brings humanity to the period it depicts, not least because the ultimate direction of the world was in the air at the time it was made. Endlessly humbling, even comforting film improves every time. (A+)
Roger Ebert's audio commentary / LISTED: best DVD's of year / RELATED: Yankee Doodle Dandy review / MENTIONED: Maltese Falcon review / 2005 movie preview / I Vitelloni review / To Have and Have Not review / TH&HN rated / Chinatown review / clip show & Treasure of the Sierra Madre comments / dvd reviews / An American in Paris review / The Good German review
Casper (1995, Brad Silberling)
Contempt and nothing but. (D-)

Catch Me if You Can (2002, Steven Spielberg)
Unexpectedly awesome caper of Frank Abagnale, played with even more unexpected depth by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his counterfeit travelogue. It's in the style of NORTH BY NORTHWEST without the danger, and at first it seems a bit fluffy (and maybe a little too impeccable and polite), but parts of it keep coming back until you can't help declaring it a winner. Excellent showcase for Tom Hanks, in one of his better latter-day roles. (A-)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / RELATED: War of the Worlds review
The Celebration (1998, Thomas Vinterberg)
Cheaply shot Dogme 95 soap is strangely hilarious and consistently harrowing, but on the whole surprisingly warm and optimistic -- in the simple tale of a grown man calling out his father for prior abuse, political and symbolic ideals about oppression and liberation explode from all sides. For all its visual anti-cinema rhetoric, it's really a modern play on RULES OF THE GAME with a bit of Jerry Springer thrown in. Quite good. (B+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Champagne (1928, Alfred Hitchcock)
A society girl is tricked by her father into mending her excessive ways. Emotionally relevant at times but largely silly silent Hitchcock is par for the course for his early features, with some fascinating, fiery visuals but few ideas to back them up. Lighter than EASY VIRTUE, more lively than THE FARMER'S WIFE, less revealing than THE MANXMAN, not nearly on the level of THE LODGER. (B-)
REVIEW / DVD review / plea for DVD release / discovery of quiet DVD release / ordering of DVD / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Hitchcock MIA on DVD
Chances Are (1989, Emile Ardolino)
Come on, Robert, let's fag it! (D+)

Charade (1963, Stanley Donen)
Although -- let's be honest -- it's no more than Hollywood style and calculation, CHARADE is a wonderfully lively mystery-comedy that excels in both departments. Story of Audrey Hepburn (playing Audrey Hepburn) and Cary Grant (playing Cary Grant) on the trail of some money offers remarkable supporting cast, occasional hints of danger, genius, and realism. No depth whatsoever, and it unintentionally reminds us of the virtues of Hitchcock, but say this: Hitchcock's most hedonistic, meaninglessly slick film, TO CATCH A THIEF, is not nearly as much fun as this. (A-)
MENTIONED: on Time's 100 Best list / Christmas presents
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005, Tim Burton)
Rigorously bright, funny, and clever Roald Dahl adaptation -- a very different film from the 1971 Gene Wilder attempt -- turned out better than even the director probably anticipated. It replaces the older film's cutting satirical humor and even more cutting palpable terror with whimsy and family-friendly surrealism. It's out of character for the director, and it works. Johnny Depp and the cast of bizarre children are, despite being unable to compare to the earlier cast, very good, and Danny Elfman's songs -- using Dahl's lyrics -- are utterly magnificent. A film with the kind of sense of fun conspicuously absent from most movies of our time. (A-)
REVIEW / reaction to announcement / pre-release rant #1 / pre-release rant #2 / reaction to trailer / reaction / sequel talk / LISTED: rated / best of year / RELATED: Corpse Bride review / MENTIONED: 2005 movie preview / Nightmare Before Christmas review / Wuthering Heights review / Narnia review / Christmas presents / top ten of week
Charlotte's Web (1973, Charles A. Nichols)
Hannah-Barbera's animation for one of their few features is very good by their standards, mediocre by others, but the intelligent beauty of E.B. White's story -- his only children's book that doesn't sell itself out halfway through -- shines through, with some impressive musical sequences and a sense of real personality. (A-)
MENTIONED: H-B rant
Chasing Amy (1997, Kevin Smith)
Smith's most acclaimed film is actually a rather obvious, Hollywood-derived love story when it isn't busy upholding male/female stereotypes. The lead character (played by Ben Affleck) is so incomprehensible and stupid, and the film's opening half-hour so poorly written and executed, that the movie is an extremely tough sell. Surprisingly, it ends up reeling in some real laughs and impressive emotional range once it gets started, using old-fashioned movie magic, but -- despite its admirable resistance to cop to cliché -- wears itself out with a rotten, silly conclusion. Smith is talented in some ways, but he is also frustratingly juvenile; whether he will ever tap into that talent to the real benefit of himself or anyone else remains to be seen. (B)

Chicken Run (2000, Peter Lord & Nick Park)
Spotty, schizophrenic stop-motion feature from the Wallace & Gromit team is technically brilliant and admirably cinematic, but the story is extremely derivative (especially, perhaps by accident, of Pixar's A BUG'S LIFE) and the jokes tired and dull. Mel Gibson's "flying chicken" character makes the film more difficult to sit through than it would be otherwise. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / RELATED: Curse of the Were-Rabbit reaction / MENTIONED: 1000th post
Children of Men (2006, Alfonso Cuaron)
One of the most emotionally supercharged films of recent years, this is an instant classic and a cinematic near-masterpiece from one of the greatest directors currently working. Haunting story (loosely based on P.D. James' "posh" novel) of apocalyptic world stunted by infertility and how quiet everyman Clive Owen gets involved with a terrorist group is seamlessly told through cathartic visuals, with Cuaron's trademark handheld shots, breathtaking long takes, and a shattering realism. As in A LITTLE PRINCESS, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, and Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, Cuaron injects it all with humanity and a wryly pointed rejection of class division, his major theme thus far. After 109 brilliant and harrowing minutes, the only aftertaste we have at the end of CHILDREN OF MEN is the dread of having to wait for the next Cuaron film. (A)
REVIEW / DVD review / most anticipated of 2006 / review of novel / initial reaction / Oscar snubs / horrible DVD cover and general campaign problems / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: summer movie preview / fall movie preview / reading book / want to see / still want to see / review coming / Little Miss Sunshine DVD / Zodiac review / Idiocracy review / John Lennon: Mind Games / Ratatouille reaction

Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
Irresistible Robert Towne neo-noir features Jack Nicholson as a private eye on the trail of a Los Angeles water scandal and an involved skirt (Faye Dunaway). Tired genre raised to biblical level by the brilliant direction and even more brilliant script, herculean performances. This one's impeccable, and extremely fun for repeat viewings. (A)
REVIEW / LISTED: best of year / rated / RELATED: The Pianist review / MENTIONED: Shoot the Piano Player & The Godfather reviews / Shoot the Piano Player DVD
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968, Ken Hughes)
Roald Dahl's lowest ebb as a screenwriter, this film today has an audience comprised entirely, I would wager, of people who remember it fondly from their youth, and they are likely to still come away disappointed. (C)

The Chocolate War (1988, Keith Gordon)
Unexpectedly brilliant adaptation of Robert Cormier's OK young adult novel is a knowing, surreal, iconic, dark, and wildly entertaining snapshot of its time. Independently and cheaply made, the movie discovers a satirical goldmine in the story of the politics of a chocolate sale at a prestigious Christian boarding school. Simultaneously a stylized, menacing German expressionist interpretation of high school and a devastatingly real portrait of adolescent alienation on the order of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. At any rate, unmatched in the subgenre of "prep school boy" films, this is a must-see. And WHAT a soundtrack! (A+)
REVIEW + DVD review / short review / DVD announcement / official DVD announcement / my thoughts on DVD cover / LISTED: most wanted on DVD / RELATED: book review / MENTIONED: current music / ordered book / Wuzzon: Yaz / wanted on DVD / Get Smart DVD / 1000th post
A Chorus Line (1985, Richard Attenborough)
Even if you have a natural suspicion (or hatred) of Broadway musicals, as I do, you may be surprised by how dull this movie is. (C-)

A Christmas Story (1983, Bob Clark)
The American experience. (A)

Chuck & Buck (2000, Miguel Arteta)
Uncomfortable, hilarious, strange, moving tale (written by Mike White, who also plays Buck) of two childhood friends who meet again years later, with many dark secrets uncovered. Arteta's film -- shot on DV -- is one of the definitive American movies about sex; its characters are fascinating, the story completely surprising. An utterly beautiful experience. (A)
RELATED: Good Girl review / MENTIONED: School of Rock review
Cinderella (1950, Wilfred Jackson/Hamilton Luske/Clyde Geronimi)
Disney Feature's comeback (their first of many) is little more than a showcase for their fine technical proficiency, lacking the emotional depth of their earlier films. (B)
REVIEW + DVD review / RELATED: Sleeping Beauty review / Beauty & the Beast review / Lady & the Tramp review / MENTIONED: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory review / Corpse Bride review / Shrek review
Cinema Paradiso (1988, Giuseppe Tornatore)
The film that launched the careers of a thousand projectionists, this romantic piffle really has far less to do with the Transporting Power of Movies than it thinks it does. But I cried at the end like everyone else. Still, from the degree to which it's become a religion among movie buffs, you'd expect a lot more out of this. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles)
Everything they say is true; everything about Welles' monument to a man destroyed is thoroughly and instinctively mounted to perfection. All the ingredients are of the highest caliber -- the acting, the photography, the script -- and what emerges is a delight; a brash, risky, youthful, vibrant entertainment experience. (A+)
DVD review / reaction / Roger Ebert DVD commentary / LISTED: rated / RELATED: Touch of Evil DVD comments / Lady from Shanghai review / F for Fake review / MENTIONED: Smiles of a Summer Night review / Sunset Blvd. review / The River review / Rules of the Game review / Robert Wise obit / Night of the Hunter review / Bringing Up Baby & Confessions of a Dangerous Mind comments / Sunset Blvd. DVD comments / Beach Boys reevaluations / The Third Man review / Bride of Frankenstein review / Twilight Zone CG / broken window / summer movie preview / Kind Hearts & Coronets review / Singin' in the Rain review / Best Years of Our Lives review / Day for Night review / Straw Dogs DVD / Children of Men review / Stagecoach review / Giant review / They Shoot Pictures / Idiocracy review / Landmarks of Early Film / The Science of Sleep review / Intermezzo review / City of God review / Targets DVD / Watership Down review
Citizen Ruth (1996, Alexander Payne)
Payne's first film is an attempt at a satire of the abortion debate, but it only has time for a few good laughs and spends the rest of the time attempting to fumble toward a Message. Laura Dern is... convincing. (B-)
RELATED: About Schmidt reaction
City Lights (1931, Charles Chaplin)
Chaplin spent years working meticulously on this inescapably brilliant silent comedy-drama, fusing with almost showy genius a delicate story of unrequited love and another wild slapstick binge featuring The Tramp. The film grows both funnier and more poignant -- insanely difficult to pull off -- as it reaches its devastating finale. (A+)
short review / DVD review / RELATED: Modern Times review / The Gold Rush review / MENTIONED: aborted silent movies essay / Fantasia review / Shoot the Piano Player review / Birth of a Nation review / 1000th post
City of Angels (1998, Brad Siberling)
Chances are that if you loved anything about Wim Wenders' WINGS OF DESIRE, you will find nothing but repulsion in CITY OF ANGELS, the Hollywood remake. This film spells out all the problems with the by-the-numbers routines of a studio system (which is only fair since we have plenty that display the benefits of same). Everything virtuous about the original movie is not just dropped but spat upon in favor of an infuriating, clichéd, ugly, stupid, endlessly irritating piece of insipid Hollywood product. (Worst of all is the new ending that gives in to the worst "tearjerker" conventions of all, robbing the story of much if not all of its potential.) If not one of the worst movies ever made, certainly one of the most offensive. (F)
MENTIONED: Plaastik lyrics
City of God (2002, Fernando Meirelles)
The City of God is a real-life ghetto of Rio de Janeiro where gangs and crime run rampant; the movie is an epic history of conditions there in the '60s and '70s and how they fall on one young boy, somewhat in the style of GOODFELLAS but infinitely superior. This universally acclaimed Brazilian film is indeed something to put in the capsule: It's an embodiment of near-flawless directing, every idea applied with absolute perfection and grace. And what's most lovable about this violent, sometimes bleak picture is how you can literally feel it winning you over. (A)
REVIEW / DVD review / reaction / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Radio Days review
City Slickers (1991, Ron Underwood)
Sort of like DELIVERANCE played as a comedy, only absent of all the things that made it any good. Jack Palance is shameful in a role so stereotyped -- in itself as well as in terms of its story function -- it's not worth explaining. (C)

Clear and Present Danger (1994, Philip Noyce)
Yet another Jack Ryan movie, and say this for the filmmakers: you get what you pay for. (C)

Cleopatra (1963, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
One of the all-time Weird Hollywood monuments, this entirely ridiculous four-hour "epic" flop was big trouble for 20th Century Fox and the industry in general, fast becoming a great American joke. Elizabeth Taylor is... Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, most everyone else is there just to read goofy lines and pretend this is all very serious, and director Mankiewicz has no clue what he wants to say, nor does he care. It's amazing that this wasn't the result of somebody's cocaine binge. Decadent, expensive, and half-assed. Insanely long, too. (C)
MENTIONED: Laura review / Nightmare Before Christmas anecdote
Clerks (1994, Kevin Smith)
Smith's first film, a comedy about guess what, is crass, dumb, underdeveloped, amateurish, badly photographed, often badly acted, and full of stilted, overbearing dialogue. It's also undeniably funny and well-structured, hinting at larger themes in just the right fashion. But don't let people tell you that low budget doesn't hurt a film like this, at least when run by somebody who doesn't really know how to use his limitations. It's finally just a glorified student film or home movie or, worse yet, a teleplay. But it is hugely entertaining all the same. (B+)
mockery of deluxe DVD / MENTIONED: Mallrats DVD comments / summer movie preview / sequel talk
The Client (1994, Joel Schumacher)
Laughably calculated and fake, as anything with the names of Grisham and Schumacher attached must always be, but richly executed and a lot of fun, with powerhouse actors anchoring the silly story. The attempts at deeper emotion are all wrongheaded and failed. (B+)

A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
Kubrick indulges himself with this over-the-top Anthony Burgess adaptation, a film about the importance of free will that goes farther than it needs to, overselling its cause and sometimes stepping halfway toward a great cinematic moment and stopping. The biggest problem is its failure to humanize its characters to a convincing or aggreable extent. It's a dazzling, tough movie, but one full of stylistic contradictions, which may be the intention. As science fiction, it is excellent; as farce, it is even better; as satire, it is no DR. STRANGELOVE, but we love it anyway. (A)
RELATED: Lolita review / Barry Lyndon review / Eyes Wide Shut review / Paths of Glory review / new Kubrick box / MENTIONED: Straw Dogs review / passing reference in top ten / Color Me Kubrick review / Storytelling DVD
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, Steven Spielberg)
Spielberg takes 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY to the home front, following Richard Dreyfus as a man who settled down, it would seem, a bit too early, and is now haunted after sighting a UFO by strange signals and omens leading him away from his family. Spielberg's setpieces -- many of them derived from horror rather than sci-fi -- are so galvanizing that they remain stunning no matter how many times one sees them. This beautiful, epic, touching masterwork is his best film. Francois Truffaut's performance is a standout. (A+)
REVIEW / Mark Evanier on movie endings / new DVD forthcoming / RELATED: Minority Report review / AI review / 1941 DVD review / Saving Private Ryan review / MENTIONED: plea for I Wanna Hold Your Hand DVD / The Ring review / David Byrne comment / Douglas Trumbull RIP / Millennium comments / Truffaut comments / Pi review / Dressed to Kill DVD review / Birth of a Nation review / Zodiac review / new AFI list / digipack rant
Closer (2004, Mike Nichols)
Enjoyably risky, almost oppressive drama about four people who slide in and out of relationships with one another at breakneck speed, all of them liars and, of course, humans. The vivid people populating the film -- nicely performed, even by Julia Roberts -- will feel unreal only to those who view themselves as immaculate. Nichols has crafted a most discomforting voyeuristic experience that is all too familiar and, at times, enticing. (A)
golden globe wins / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: movies I wanted to see / Sideways review / 1941 reaction / I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang review / Broadcast News review / Match Point review
Clue (1985, Jonathan Lynn)
Lynn's comedy based on, of all things, the Parker Brothers board game is commercial claptrap and a ripoff of MURDER BY DEATH. Who fucking cares? You get Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Tim Curry, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, and Eileen Brennan in top form, among others. You can't miss that. (A-)

Cocktail (1988, Roger Donaldson)
Tom Cruise plays himself, running a bar in New York. Why? Only the gods can say. That the terrible song "Kokomo" is the most memorable thing about this -- even if it owes its success to Cruise's pretty-boy looks -- speaks for itself. (C-)

Cocoon (1985, Ron Howard)
Insulting Spielbergian tripe about old people who make an incredible sci-fi discovery is a limiting waste of a lot of great actors. Forget it. (D+)

Cold Comfort Farm (1995, John Schlesinger)
A girl (played stunningly by Kate Beckinsale) who idolizes and wants to become Jane Austen moves out to a country farm to find her inspiration and ends up reshaping the lives of those around her, while suddenly involving herself in life rather than observing it from a distance. Funny and brilliant entertainment with an unforgettable set of great characters and plenty of warm observances about growing up. (A)
MENTIONED: Christmas presents
Collateral (2004, Michael Mann)
Mann hits the sublime for the first hour or so of this excellent thriller about a cab driver stuck in his car with a hitman played rather well by Tom Cruise (who is only really convincing as a villain). The movie starts out wonderfully and gets better and better until Jamie Foxx throws Cruise's suitcase off the bridge, initiating a break in the narrative from which the film never recovers; thereafter, it gets ever closer to being a standard Hollywood action movie, which is a shame. Foxx is outstanding. (B+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Stephen King's top 10 of year / Eyes Wide Shut review
Color Me Kubrick (2006, Brian W. Cook)
It really happened -- a wacko named Alan Conway really did claim to be Stanley Kubrick, who looked nothing like him, in order to pick up guys (and food) -- but it comes off as the biggest dadaist comic put-on of the new millennium, with Conway played with perfect nonchalance by John Malkovich, who talks at length of "Little Tommy Cruise" and "Miss Kirk Douglas". The movie plays essentially like a long Kids in the Hall sketch or an Albert Brooks film until its messy, meandering climactic sequence (before coming back for a bright finish). So if that's your cup of tea... (B+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Coming Home (1978, Hal Ashby)
Ashby's most accomplished, perhaps least eccentric film is masterfully cinematic, lit up by Jon Voight in the lead as a handicapped Vietnam vet, Bruce Dern as an emotionally shattered one. Ashby uses rock music brilliantly and has a perfect storytelling instinct, resulting in a disturbing, effective, and human antiwar film. Unfortunately, Jane Fonda -- as the mutual love interest -- is a horrible, horrible actress. I'm sorry. (B+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: general movie comments / Apocalypse Now review / Platoon review / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon review
The Compleat Beatles (1982, Patrick Montgomery)
Exciting, intoxicating crash course on the Beatles' history featuring great concert footage and other clips is a powerfully grandiose documentary. The viewer feels intimately involved, and the still remarkable story of the band's rise is better told here than anywhere else. (A)
LISTED: most wanted on DVD / RELATED: Beatles Anthology review / MENTIONED: Beatles Anthology comments / Billy Preston obit
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002, George Clooney)
Clooney, in his directorial debut, is ambitious and insatiable on an Orson Welles level, littering the film -- written by Charlie Kaufman, based on the controversial autobiography of game show maven Chuck Barris -- with stunning visual ideas and large-scale indulgences. It seems that he views the studio, as Welles did, as a big candy store. We need more people like that. (A)
DVD comments / LISTED: rated / best of year / RELATED: Good Night, and Good Luck review
Congo (1995, Frank Marshall)
You may buy into this Crichton fantasy for an hour or so, but like so much of his work, it is so lacking in all basic areas of narrative structure and restraint that it ends up feeling worse than it probably is. (C)

Consenting Adults (1992, Alan J. Pakula)
Hilariously dumb, miles over the top yuppie trash about middle-aged WASP dullard Kevin Kline (in one of his weakest roles) wife-swapping with unbridled psychopath Kevin Spacey, who is fun, odd, and very much the only reason to bother. (C-)
RELATED: Klute review
Conspiracy Theory (1997, Richard Donner)
Obvious but delightful Hollywood caper with atypically good acting from superstar leads Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. The title basically says it all. The resulting film is one of those scattered pieces of modern Hollywood product that does what it's supposed to. (B+)

Contact (1997, Robert Zemeckis)
Zemeckis' film of Carl Sagan book begins well, becomes ordinary, and finally grows insipid. Jodie Foster can only carry a movie like this for so long. (C-)
MENTIONED: Beowulf announcement
The Conversation (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)
Cinema, cinema, cinema! One in the shamefully scant group of movies that take full advantage of sound, Coppola's masterpiece of modern paranoia follows a skilled surveillance man on an ethical and personal breakdown. A completely galvanizing thriller in Hitchcock tradition; Gene Hackman's impressive characterization and Coppola's excellent script bring us into his world, through the lengthy second act and into a concluding nightmare. You're cheating yourself if you don't see this one. (A)
extremely short DVD comments / LISTED: rated / best of year / RELATED: The Godfather review / Apocalypse Now review / MENTIONED: Blowup review / L'Age d'Or review
Cool Hand Luke (1967, Stuart Rosenberg)
Some haunting moments in this dated chain gang movie, to be sure. It's 127 minutes, it makes its point in less than 90, and there's no conceivable reason why it keeps going afterward. Also Paul Newman is annoying. George Kennedy (accent notwithstanding) and Strother Martin were great in it though, and overall I guess I liked it, it's just that it droned on and on. Newman's running debate with God is the highlight for sure. (B)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated
Copycat (1995, Jon Amiel)
Passable serial killer trash doesn't make a lot of sense but has the distinction of using a Police B-side as a major plot point. (B-)

Corpse Bride (2005, Tim Burton & Mike Johnson)
Burton's stop-motion tale of arranged marriage and love beyond the grave is perceptive, beautiful, and wonderfully noisy, with many good songs and quotes from classic animated films. The ending is inevitably unsatisfying. (A-)
REVIEW / box office performance / LISTED: best of year & movies seen theatrically / rated / MENTIONED: 2005 movie preview / trailer note / upcoming movies / Nightmare Before Christmas review & anecdote / Harry Potter comment / Curse of the Were-Rabbit review / Chicken Little comments / Twilight Zone "Jess-Belle" / Oscar comments
Corrina, Corrina (1994, Jessie Nelson)
Nelson's charming film about blooming romance between a black nanny and a white songwriter is entertaining kids' stuff, but it's also rather simplistic, and before you protest, kids' stuff doesn't need to be. (B-)

Crash (2005, Paul Haggis)
Noisy, bratty, bitchy lives in L.A. converge, their stories all stroking the matter of Racism with one hand and patting their stomachs with the other, and my question is, how in the world did this movie get taken seriously? It seems as if someone put heroin in Roger Ebert's drinking water, because I don't see how anybody who's seen as many movies as Ebert has could really be impressed by all the clichés and condescension and superficial preaching. All you need to know is, an African-American couple in the film have an argument over how "black" they are. Holy fuck. Even putting aside the clueless handling of the subject matter, the movie is easily the most amateurishly directed, if not the worst, ever to receive the Oscar for Best Picture. And it screams "screenwriter of MILLION DOLLAR BABY"; it's maudlin, pretentious, stereotypical (while working through its supposed destruction of stereotypes), and rife with easy cynicism, just like M$B. Just another shitty liberal guilt movie, as if we didn't have plenty by the end of the '30s. Might play as a comedy, though; Sandra Bullock's fall down the stairs is a highlight. (D)
REVIEW / Oscar win / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Oscar noms / Million Dollar Baby review / fall movie preview / Unforgiven + Guess Who's Coming to Dinner reviews / Do the Right Thing review / Ebert vs. Rosenbaum
The Creeping Terror (1964, Art J. Nelson)
Charmingly brash no-budget horror film is among the ugliest, cheapest movies to hit the drive-in circuit. Its ineptitude is the stuff of nightmares, but for the first half-hour, it has major train wreck appeal. (C)
MENTIONED: warming up to
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989, Woody Allen)
"Throughout life, we are faced with many questions." Woody Allen's most challenging film asks the audience to contend with many such struggles, while offering spellbinding suspense and many belly laughs in parallel stories about Woody himself as a long-suffering documentary filmmaker and Martin Landau has a desperate society man at the end of his rope. Sheer mastery that will force you to think like few other movies. (A+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / 12 best of year & "Hitchcockian" note / RELATED: Purple Rose of Cairo review / Match Point review / Shadows & Fog review / MENTIONED: initial reaction / The Muse review / Cape Fear review / Elephant review / Christmas presents / Dressed to Kill DVD review / Targets review / 1000th post / Unforgiven review
Crimson Tide (1995, Tony Scott)
By-the-numbers modern war film is hardly offensive, but not the least bit interesting. (C-)

Crocodile Dundee (1986, Peter Faiman)
Rendered obsolete by Animal Planet. (C-)

Crossing the Bridge (1992, Mike Binder)
Terrible coming-of-age film about would-be drug smugglers and the Decision That Will Change Their Lives. So incompetently directed and amateurishly performed, one is hesitant to believe it was granted a theatrical release. Worse yet, Judd Apatow was among the producers. (D-)

Cross of Iron (1977, Sam Peckinpah)
Peckinpah's blood-drenched war flick is worthwhile for those who like this kind of thing, will be a pain in the ass for everybody else. (C)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Ang Lee)
It's martial arts shit which I quite simply don't care about, but it's also funny, sexy, beautiful to look at, and as effortlessly fluid as Lee's work usually is. Don't know if it's a lasting achievement, but it sure has its moments. And when the people fly around, it actually feels right for some inexplicable reason. (B+)
REVIEW / LISTED: rated / MENTIONED: Hero review
The Crowd (1928, King Vidor)
MGM's passionately crafted examination of the trials in the life of a young couple is heartrending, sincere, and sobering. It may very well be the greatest American silent film, and certainly doesn't do much of a disservice to those who claim that sound is extraneous. (A+)
extremely short reaction / Warner chat / still no announcement from WB / LISTED: rated / 12 best of year / most wanted on DVD / MENTIONED: unfinished silent films essay / review of Antoine Doinel series / The Wind review / Time's 100 Greatest list / Bed & Board comments / Bicycle Thief review / Scenes from a Marriage review / Birth of a Nation review / MIA on DVD / Fanny & Alexander debate / Get Smart DVD / 1000th post / #1 most wanted / Sunrise review
The Crucible (1996, Nicholas Hytner)
Arthur Miller's play transported skillfully to the cinema by Hytner, who offers an unforgettable production that seems eerily present. (A-)
MENTIONED: On the Waterfront review
Crumb (1994, Terry Zwigoff)
Although R. Crumb's work gives me no pleasure, Zwigoff has crafted a most peculiar and arresting documentary. (B+)

The Crying Game (1992, Neil Jordan)
A knockout. This ghostly, absorbing thriller is a testament to outstanding screenwriting, performance, and direction. It's the story of a deflected IRA man, and on the offchance that you don't know more than that already, who am I to say more? A film which the viewer will reap huge rewards for revisiting. (A)
RELATED: Mona Lisa review / MENTIONED: double purchase comments / L.A. Story DVD review
Cube (1997, Vincenzo Natali)
Pretentious Twilight Zone ripoff lacks spark, intrigue. (D+)

Curse of the Pink Panther (1983, Blake Edwards)
The second attempt to revive the Pink Panther films after Peter Sellers' death is difficult to watch. Ted Wass tries to fill the Clouseau shoes but is horrible, and yet most of the blame has to go to the screenwriters. Junk. (D)

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950, Michael Gordon)
Silly but highly digestible Hollywood goo cannot hold a candle to Edmond Rostand's beautiful, life-altering play, but it is entirely acceptable as hopelessly romantic entertainment. (B)
MENTION: Roxanne review


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