Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Beverly Hills Ninja by Dennis Dugan tries yet again to make Chris Farley’s brand of physical comedy, which consists of smashing into things and roaring, funny—but with no more success than Black Sheep or Tommy Boy. Artistic, or comedic, success I mean. At the box office it is boffo. For some reason, Americans in the…

A beautiful if harrowing film about a clash between medieval and modern in which neither looks much like a winner

Cradle Will Rock is a huge disappointment—nothing but a vanity project for Tim Robbins, who wrote and directed it. It’s a great shame, not only because Robbins showed that he was capable of something much better in Dead Man Walking a few years ago, but also because it has an all-star cast (including Vanessa Redgrave,…

Hope Floats directed by Forrest Whitaker to a screenplay by Steven Rodgers is a feel-good movie selling a relatively innocuous version of the Hollywood dream—i.e. that all the world’s problems come from people, especially parents and children, not hugging each other enough and giving tongue to their feelings of love for each other. The other…

A delightful and not entirely politically correct movie about growing up as a Catholic schoolgirl in 2002-2003

For just a moment, about half way through, Hollow Reed by Angela Pope looks as if it is going to face a difficult problem honestly. Talk about suspense! But just as, when it looks as if the hero of a movie like Con Air is done for, you know he can’t be, so here you…