The Big Lebowski (1998)::rating::4.5::rating::4.5::rating::4.5

W hat can you say about a movie where the dramatic through-line is a pee-stained rug? The Big Lewbowski is a freewheeling masterpiece that ambles along like a sun-drenched tumbleweed in the Hollywood Hills. Never before or since has such an insubstantial movie been so highly regarded or endlessly quoted. Remarkably, like its hero, Lebowski…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 21, 20240Comments

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Grindhouse (2007)::rating::3

Death Proof (2007) O n paper, the Grindhouse double feature looks dangerously like a vanity project from two cocky film directors. And make no mistake, Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino spend a fair amount of both these movies just dicking around. Your tolerance for these gory joy rides will depend on how well…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 7, 20240Comments

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The Exorcist (1973)::rating::5

E ven after fifty years, The Exorcist stands as the pinnacle of the horror genre. Everything about it has attained iconic status, from the acting and makeup effects to the directing and music. Mention this movie to anyone and they'll immediately conjure images of Linda Blair, writhing and wailing like a banshee as her head rotates…

ByTodd WoffordNovember 2, 20240Comments

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An American Werewolf in London (1981)::rating::3

A n American Werewolf in London lands in a weird no man's land. As a comedy, it's fitfully amusing, but never particularly funny. As a horror flick, it's ambitious and interesting, but not that scary. Still, it's good-looking, well-paced, and those werewolf effects remain stunning to this day. All this adds up to a film…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 26, 20240Comments

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The Faculty (1998)::rating::2.5

T he Faculty is a passable teen comedy trapped in the body of dumb, disposable horror epic. It delivers a steady stream of pop culture riffs from a cast of angsty John Hughes knockoffs. These winky references duke it out with wearying jump scares and gratuitous gore for dominance of the movie's overall aesthetic. Nobody wins,…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 3, 20240Comments

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The American President (1995)::rating::3.5

T he American President doesn't belong to another era. It belongs to another universe. Aaron Sorkin's sparkling screenplay depicts a quaint fantasyland wherein practical idealists can still rise high and change the world. In this other-verse, when the widower president dates a single woman, it's a pearl-clutching scandal. Meanwhile, our painful reality is that headlines…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 25, 20240Comments

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Lincoln (2012)::rating::4.5

A t the outset, the obvious must be noted: As a historical figure, Abraham Lincoln has long since taken on mythic proportions. His aphorisms are carved in granite; his face will forever occupy our currency. As a man, Lincoln was so enigmatic and complex as to be almost unknowable. No single movie could ever encapsulate…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 19, 20240Comments

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Air Force One (1997)::rating::3

I first saw Air Force One at the Admiral Twin drive-in, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As movie-going experiences go, this was about as American as it gets: Harrison Ford, playing a two-fisted president, pummeling goateed sleazebags aboard a red, white, and blue airliner. The teenage version of me would've slapped four stars on this review and…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 10, 20240Comments

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All the President’s Men (1976)::rating::5

W ith a landmark film like All the President's Men, it's easy to focus on the destination, rather than the journey. Yes, Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein tugged a thread until it unraveled a presidency, but the real glory of this story is their dogged determination to follow that act to its logical conclusion. In…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 4, 20240Comments

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Frost/Nixon (2008)::rating::4

I n the sprawl and sweep of American history, Richard Nixon endures as a towering and tragic figure. He had all the makings of a great leader, housed within the shell of a terrible one. Nixon was brilliant, charismatic, histrionic, and profoundly insecure. He bruised the presidency and scarred the public trust in ways that…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 28, 20240Comments