Monthly Archives: August 2003

Dirty Pretty Things

Posted on August 30, 2003

Stephen Frears has directed quite a few terrific movies (High Fidelity, one of my ATFs, The Grifters, The Van, and more) but one of his abiding interests has been the immigrant culture in London and he pursues that interest again … Continue reading →

Posted in drama, movies, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

Where It's At

Posted on August 28, 2003

Back in 1969, people where groovy. I mean, they were cool cats and chicks and didn’t let conventional moralities stand in the way of a good time. No sire, not them people back then. So how is it that a … Continue reading →

Posted in drama, family, movies, Not Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

Knockaround Guys

Posted on August 24, 2003

Coming from David Levien and Brian Koppelman, the same pair that wrote Rounders, no one was surprised that Knockaround Guys is another movie about young guys caught up in the underworld. But Guys does not have anyone like Matt Damon … Continue reading →

Posted in buddies, crime, movies, Not Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

The Magnificent Seven

Posted on August 17, 2003

There are only seven basic stories for writers to use and Hollywood ranks the Hero’s Tale right at the top; my favorite genre or at least far ahead of Boy Meets Girl. So I was quite interested when TV Guide … Continue reading →

Posted in adventure, movies, Recommended, Reviews, western | Comments Off

Freaky Friday

Posted on August 16, 2003

A movie that could easily have gone over the edge in sentimentality, obviousness or obnoxiousness didn’t. As a result, the audience with which we saw Freaky Friday applauded when the final credits ran. I didn’t go that far but I … Continue reading →

Posted in comedy, family, fantasy, movies, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

Don't Look Back

Posted on August 10, 2003

Since this little essay seems to be the 200th movie review (to use the term loosely) published here on BillSaysThis, I thought I’d pair these two films about the mid-60s concert scene by what are arguably the two most important … Continue reading →

Posted in documentary, movies, musicals, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

A Hard Day's Night

Posted on August 10, 2003

Since this little essay seems to be the 200th movie review (to use the term loosely) published here on BillSaysThis, I thought I’d pair these two films about the mid-60s concert scene by what are arguably the two most important … Continue reading →

Posted in documentary, movies, musicals, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

Flypaper

Posted on August 8, 2003

Back in the mid-90s, a lot of writers and directors in Hollywood wanted to make the next Pulp Fiction. And every studio wanted to release it, which probably explains how a guy like Klaus Hoch, who’d been hanging around Hollywood … Continue reading →

Posted in drama, indie, movies, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

S.W.A.T.

Posted on August 8, 2003

Bang! Ka-pow! I kept expecting to see balloon captions appear above Colin Farrell’s head each time he got into a fistfight, the sound effects of his punches landing were so loud. I’m still unsold on Farrell as (one of) the … Continue reading →

Posted in action, crime, movies, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off

Thunder Road

Posted on August 7, 2003

For years I’d heard about this cool Robert Mitchum movie, Springsteen even mentions it as inspiration. Or maybe just stealing a cool title for what has to be one of my top three songs. Since Turner Movie Classics was unreeling … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, drama, movies, mystery, Recommended, Reviews | Comments Off