While formulating my review of “The Patriot,” I kept replaying The Pretender’s song “It’s A Thin Line Between Love & Hate” over and over in my head. I really wanted to love this movie about how one man’s personal vendetta during the Revolutionary War inspired the South Carolina locals to rise up and defeat General Cornwallis and his troops. Read the rest of this entry »

The cinematic equivalent of a colonoscopy performed with a telephone pole, cross beams and all, “Malibu’s Most Wanted” is more than just a pain in the butt, it’s a drain on the brain, a membrane sucking monster without any soul or wit. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello young lovers, who ever you are. Could anything be more delightful than owning a copy of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King & I” on DVD? Never have the colors looked so smashing, so vivid, so true to life. It’s like watching “The King & I” for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »

It might not have been love at first sight, but the moment handyman Inman set eyes on the new preacher’s beautiful daughter Ada, he knew that their lives would become intertwined. Ada felt the same way, but being a proper woman raised in Charleston, knew that she had to play coy. Read the rest of this entry »

Love them or hate them, you have to admire the creators of South Park for creating an animation model which allows them to turn out an episode on the fly. Unlike other prime time animated shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which require long lead times, South Park can exploit a current trend while it?s still hot. Read the rest of this entry »

Added security has turned a quick trip to the airport into a marathon experience. Extensive waits are not uncommon, transforming once bustling mini-municipalities into holding patterns. Imagine spending all day waiting for a flight. Imagine spending nine months waiting for a flight that never comes. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether by choice or accident, it’s impossible to tell by the coming attractions that the new crime thriller Inside Man is a Spike Lee joint. I guess it all depends on how you feel about Lee, who has etched a career with sharp, pointed social commentaries, but rarely works in the mainstream. Even Lee’s best films, Mo’ Better Blues and Do The Right Thing, have only been marginal successes. Read the rest of this entry »

Spike & Mike, those bad boys of animation, have been bringing their signature brand of sick and twisted humor to film festivals and video for years, and now they take on DVD with a vengeance. This compilation features 35 animated shorts from various friends and associates, the kind of folk you wouldn’t trust to be left alone with your pets. Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t keep a good duck down, as “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” attests. While not as novel as the groundbreaking “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Back in Action” is much better than “Space Jam,” the 1996 blend of live action and Warner Bros. cartoon animation featuring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny. Read the rest of this entry »

In real life, some things bear repeating. Great sex. Great food. Great times. Even great movies. In Hollywood, if a film even shows signs of becoming a moderate hit, writers are hired to hammer out a sequel. In a few cases, the sequels equal or better the original (“Godfather II” immediately comes to mind). The rest usually pale by comparison. Some are simply awful. Read the rest of this entry »