Late in I Like It Like That, a smalltime ex-con shares a cup of ice cream with two of his children. It's the Bronx; they're on a stoop across the... More>>
Good idea, good characters, bad result; Allen's roll comes to a stop
By David Theis,
October 27, 1994
The scandal that entered Woody Allen's life a few years ago seemed not to enervate the filmmaker, but rather invigorate him. Not only did he keep... More>>
The Specialist has fewer explosions than most of this year's other "blowed up real good" movies. This is not a plus, since The Specialist also... More>>
A basketball documentary delves deep into the dangerous lure of the game
By David Theis,
October 20, 1994
Hoop Dreams arrives just in time to add a level of irony to the opening of the NBA season. We grateful Houstonians (myself certainly included)... More>>
"Visions are worth fighting for," a minor character informs a major one late in Tim Burton's visually striking, charmingly loopy Ed Wood, and we... More>>
There isn't much baseball in The Scout, but there hasn't been much baseball in baseball the past few years either. And we know how that ended up:... More>>
Because the early reviews of Terminal Velocity weren't particularly kind, and because I'm of the a-little-Charlie-Sheen-goes-a-long-way school of... More>>
As the producing half of the famed Ivory/ Merchant moviemaking team, Ismail Merchant is responsible for creating the luminous look of such films... More>>
With the release of the Houston-filmed Jason's Lyric, the wave of black movies that began with She's Gotta Have It has well and truly ended. The... More>>
Meryl Streep is as good as Arnold Schwarzenegger. I never thought I'd be saying this. But then again, I never thought that Streep, she of the... More>>
Seductive, lyric fantasy and the horrors of genuine human suffering don't usually work together. And it's not often that the American moviegoing... More>>
What's Bruce Beresford, acclaimed director of Driving Miss Daisy, doing making a film in which an aged duchess is shown naked from behind as she... More>>
Director Boaz Yakin gives a Fresh twist to tales of the drug trade
By David Theis,
September 08, 1994
This has been a strong year for first-time independent filmmakers. David O. Russell's Spanking the Monkey was one of 1994's pleasant surprises;... More>>
It would be hard to overstate the ineptitude of Steve Martin's new film, A Simple Twist of Fate, so I won't try. The poor, misshapen thing speaks... More>>
Song and dance in the Outback, where guys will be gals
By Peter Szatmary,
September 01, 1994
Drag queens in the Outback, laddies. Wearing Scarlett O'Hara outfits and showing a Carmen Miranda flair. Lip-synching to the Village People, ABBA... More>>
That right now is roughly the 100th anniversary of the birth of the movies is a little-noted fact, even by the Hollywood studios. Maybe that's as... More>>
Combine TV, killing and crowds, and what do you have? Oliver Stone
By David Theis,
September 01, 1994
Forget James Brown. Oliver Stone is the hardest-working man in show business. He's directed nine films since 1986's Salvador, and in each of them... More>>
