NPR Columns: Movie ReviewsReviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.'Henry Poole,' Learning To Love His Neighbors- August 14, 2008 The Luke Wilson vehicle is a parable of averted martyrdom that turns on a Roman Catholic notion of the miraculous — though its fundamental message is closer to a Hallmark card than to the New Testament.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93523925&ft=1&f=4467349 'Girl Cut in Two': An Old Scandal, Stylishly Redressed- August 14, 2008 There are ominous goings-on, yes — a murder, even — but mostly what gets slashed in Claude Chabrol's wittily accomplished new black comedy are bourgeois facades and upright reputations.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93523977&ft=1&f=4467349 'Tropic Thunder': A Category 2 Comedy Disaster- August 13, 2008 A Hollywood parody of the Scary Movie variety, Tropic Thunder becomes the butt of its own joke. Bombastic actors satirically play bombastic actors — without much effect, says critic Cynthia Fuchs. Ooh, how meta.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93523961&ft=1&f=4467349 French Thriller 'Tell No One' Gains Momentum In U.S.- August 12, 2008 Tell No One is a French thriller that was a hit in Europe, but it had a hard time finding distribution in the United States. Now it's been out for some weeks, and its audience is growing through strong word-of-mouth.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93522536&ft=1&f=4467349 A Too-Tasteful 'Elegy,' Feeling Mildly Lamentable- August 8, 2008 Isabel Coixet's film follows a refined formula — acclaimed actors, source material by Philip Roth, a classy soundtrack. But the gentility of tone masks, when it might contrast, a brute of a protagonist.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93296312&ft=1&f=4467349 What's In A Name In 'Hell Ride,' A Really Awful Lot- August 8, 2008 A B-movie of a B-movie, Hell Ride was intended to pay homage to bikesploitation flicks of yore. Critic Nathan Lee calls it a "witless sleazefest, violently tedious and aggressively irrelevant."http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93300479&ft=1&f=4467349 A 'Frozen River,' Treacherous And Deep- August 5, 2008 With its bleak landscape and bleaker plot, Courtney Hunt's directorial debut — a Sundance festival favorite — provides a moving portrait of two women's desperation in a Canadian border town.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93280688&ft=1&f=4467349 'Mummy' 3: Enter The Dragon Emperor- August 1, 2008 The latest Mummy-franchise flick moves from the Nile Delta to the Yellow River Basin. If it makes a hash of history, it's an engaging homage to Chinese movies that earlier plundered the Qin emperor's grave.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93098143&ft=1&f=4467349 'Pineapple Express': Sweetly, Stylishly Dopey- August 1, 2008 The Judd Apatow comedy team has turned every stoner's worst nightmare — our ganja-connoisseur heroes must flee a corrupt cop and a ruthless druglord — into a surprisingly artful comedy.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93050361&ft=1&f=4467349 |