Children of Men

The original was pretty dire, but the re-make is unspeakably awful

Pavilion of Women is possibly the most perfectly awful movie I have seen this year. It is also a sad indication of the extent to which Hollywood, in seeking to demonstrate liberal good-will towards the People’s Republic of China, will swallow without a murmur propaganda that would be laughed off the stage if it came…

Conspiracy Theory, written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Richard Donner, attempts to do for lunatics what movies like The Shawshank Redemption tried to do for convicts—that is to sanitize them and make them lovable victims of government and society instead of dangerous social malcontents. Charming, blue-eyed Mel Gibson plays Jerry, a middle aged New…

A film critic called upon to review a James Bond movie feels a bit like a restaurant critic who is asked to review McDonald’s. The World is Not Enough, directed by Michael Apted, is like most of its 18 predecessors pure McEntertainment. Anyone who has been to the other Bond films will know exactly what…

At last a movie that you need not be embarrassed to take your kids to — it’s rated “R” for “reality”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. In fact, every review of a Steven Spielberg film ought to stipulate this in its first paragraph: Spielberg is America’s most talented film-maker. Here’s an example of how talented he is. It’s a small one, but characteristic. At one point in his new film, A.I. Artificial…