May 2008 Archives

Yes folks, I'm back from my mini-vacation and ready for some reviewing. So, to get back in the swing of things, here's my take on Jerry Schatzberg's "The Panic in Needle Park (1971)."

First, a definition: the 'panic' in the title refers to when the supply of heroin dries up, and the junkies are forced to go to extremes for a fix. Into this picture come Bobby (Al Pacino) and Helen (Kitty Winn), two aimless souls caught up in the whirlwind junkie scene.

Yes, your irrepressible critic is taking a few days off and hitting the road, so to speak.

I'll be back with new reviews next week. 

Need a film-cannon fix? Check out the archives for a refresher.

Uneven is probably the best word I can use to describe Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil," the story of a boy who seeks a tour through humanity's dark side.

Todd (Brad Renfro) is a gifted high school student; he's so gifted that when his history class spends a week learning about the Holocaust, he hits a university library to learn more about it. And he's so smart that when he sees a suspicious man on a nighttime bus, he begins an amateur investigation that will lead to shocking truths about humanity and himself.

I have a confession to make.  I hated "Ghost World" when I first saw it, which was not too long after it came to DVD in 2001/2002.

At the time, I fully expected to like the movie; a tale of about high school's outcasts post-graduation has ME written all over it. And seriously, what's not to like here? It's both funny and sad in real-life terms, and the acting, directing, writing are all top notch.