Cat’s Meow, The
Rich and powerful Mr Hearst only wants to be loved! The story ought to be in the funny pages of a Hearst newspaper — or a movie by Orson Welles. Peter Bogdanovich’s version is a yawn.
Lucky Break
A charming combination of prison flick and musical comedy is the best thing on offer this week.
The Paranoid Style in American Journalism
Advice on humility from the New York Times? You’ve got to be kidding.
— From The New Criterion
Death to Smoochy
A movie that shows how cynicism and sentimentality can be two sides of the same coin
Son of the Bride (El Hijo de la Novia)
A touching and well-made romantic comedy from Argentina that manages to squeeze a bit more juice out of the familiar trope of the harried businessman who must learn to smell the roses
Y Tu Mama Tambien
A teenage sexual fantasy almost rises above its sordid and ridiculous premiss, but it finally falls victim to cliché.
American Journalism Not In Peril Enough
Len Downie and Robert Kaiser join the parade of self-important scribblers who tell us of “American Journalism in Peril.” If only it were!
— From National Review
He’s a Rebel
Christopher Hitchens’s Letters to a Young Contrarian charmingly evoke the pleasures of a life in opposition.
— From Crisis
George Bush as Strewwelpeter
Have European élites abandoned belief in America? In the war? In evil? Or do they just need a familiar whipping-boy?
— From the Times Literary Supplement
Monsoon Wedding
Mira Nair’s movie, with its Robert-Altman-goes-to-New-Delhi panorama of Indian life, means to be a feel-good movie. But who wants to feel good?
Harrison’s Flowers
A wife’s Mission Impossible to bring hubby back from the war. You don’t suppose it could — possibly — fail do you?