Email Author Michael Atkinson

2006 Stories by Michael Atkinson

• All the King's Men

  published September 21, 2006

  According to its publicity, bringing Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel All the King's Men to the screen again has always been "a cherished... More >>

• The Wicker Man

  published September 7, 2006

  A couple of questions arise with the new remake of Robin Hardy's 1973 cult-remembered genre work -- namely, what's in this kind of malarkey for... More >>

• Idlewild

  published August 24, 2006

  One of the weakest and most ridiculous aspects of popular culture is its narcissistic now-ness. There's often no then or later, and without past... More >>

• All Wet

  published July 20, 2006

  It would be a mighty sweet thing to see M. Night Shyamalan as the great redemptive storyteller he clearly thinks he is -- or as he portrays... More >>

• The Citizen Kane of Crap

  published June 29, 2006

  The Devil's Sword (Mondo Macabro) Few trash movies live up to their reputation, but here's a balls-out wonder that surpasses... More >>

• This Time It's Serious

  published May 18, 2006

  Winter Passing (Fox) Try this, should you be inclined to rent this downer from writer-director Adam Rapp: Skip from chapter... More >>

• Nouveau Noir

  published May 11, 2006

  Calling Rian Johnson's teen indie drama Brick a piece of stuntwork might seem tantamount to hitting it with a pie, but it's a... More >>

• Technicolor Yuan

  published May 4, 2006

  Coming closer even than Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers to resembling the Chinese cover art for an Iron Butterfly album, Chen Kaige's... More >>

• Sans Quentin

  published April 6, 2006

  You may not yet have lost your ardor and respect for the pressure-point hammerblow Quentin Tarantino executed on American movies, but it's... More >>

• Knockoff

  published April 6, 2006

  We've all done it: killed an afternoon drinking in a pleasantly grungy roadhouse somewhere, boozily enjoying the illusion of having fallen off the... More >>

• Puff Piece

  published March 30, 2006

  "You want an easy job, go join the Red Cross," someone says well into Thank You for Smoking, a gleeful farce about capitalist... More >>

• It's a Crime

  published March 23, 2006

  Given Inside Man's bullpen (director Spike Lee, stars Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster), moment in political history and... More >>

• Now You See Them

  published March 23, 2006

  Breasts: A Documentary (First Run) Honest, compassionate, and funny, this documentary is remarkable for the bravery of its... More >>

• Look Away

  published March 9, 2006

  Anyone who remembers the 1977 Wes Craven film The Hills Have Eyes, which was and remains a piece of Milwaukee-beer shit, remembers... More >>

• This Dogg's Got Bite

  published March 9, 2006

  The Tenants (Sony) Fifteen seconds into the video for "Nuthin but a G Thang," it was obvious that Snoop Dog had charisma to... More >>

• Hard Ride

  published March 2, 2006

  Didn't Richard Donner retire? A 1980s star-director name, among many, that should now send bolts of discouraging dread down your spine, Richard... More >>

• The Great Cash-In

  published March 2, 2006

  Walk the Line (Fox) No matter what a junkie does with his spare time -- say, redefine country music, or forge one of history's... More >>