Act of Valor

Orgazmo, written and directed by and starring Trey Parker, exploits the essential comedy in sex by bringing together the adult film industry and Mormonism — an unpromising combination, you might think, though the premiss is good for a few laughs before it sputters out about half way through. Parker plays Joe Young, a Mormon missionary…

The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg is virtually indistinguishable from the original of four years ago—and indeed from most other Spielbergian products, particularly in their emphasis on wise or clever or dexterous children rescuing their parents and in their environmental message. Indeed, the most curious thing about the whole film is that it…

Paul Thomas Anderson shows why style, however brilliant, cannot make up for basic flaws in content.

A Merry War is the American title given to the adaptation by Robert Bierman (director) and Alan Plater (writer) of George Orwell’s sunniest novel, Keep the Aspidistra Flying— presumably because Americans don’t know what an aspidistra is. For the record, it is a houseplant with long, leathery swordlike leaves which, in the 1930s was a…

Pixar shows its technical accomplishment once again, but as in Toy Story and A Bug’s Life it doesn’t quite make the feeling believable

Arab-Americans are protesting against the portrayal of Arabs in The Siege, the new movie by Edward Zwick, and so of course the politically correct will argue among themselves for a while about whether or not Arabs are being stereotyped as terrorists. The film’s apologists claim that, by including a token Arab (played by Tony Shalhoub)…