Though he would never, ever admit it, this part ALWAYS makes the editor bawl like a baby.

THE MIST (2007, directed by Frank Darabont, 127 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK, FILM CRITIC  Still lingering around in area theaters is Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 novella The Mist, a film intriguing enough that it would be underselling it to say it is merely the best King adaptation in years.  The End Days come to a small town Maine supermarket when an eerie mist descends the hills, obscuring a multi-tentacled beast that has jumped dimensions to terrorize the imprisoned shoppers.  All manner of giant bugs and slimy vagina-like creatures lay waste to the All-American crew cowering among […]

ATONEMENT (2007, directed by Joe Wright, 130 minutes, U.K.) BY DAN BUSKIRK, FILM CRITIC What would the holiday season be like without another stuffy European period piece designed for a matinee with your granny? They’d be much the same for those of us who do our best to avoid the never-ending string of Merchant Ivory-style costume weepies made to sate the appetites of the blue-haired denizens of the art houses. Still, like a bad restaurant with a convenient location, I find myself occasionally checking in on the repressed sex and waistcoats genre, usually coming to the conclusion that I shouldn’t […]

STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING (2007, directed by Andrew Wagner, 111 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC The actor Frank Langella’s name is always afforded the greatest respect by serious watchers of theater, although the genius he has shown on stage has seldom been visible in his film work. Langella made his big screen splash in 1979, recreating his stage role in John Badham’s Dracula (poorly-received it was quickly dubbed “Disco Dracula” by wags because Badham previously directed Saturday Night Fever and from then on, you’d be hard pressed to find an actor of his reputation who has appeared […]

WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? (2007, directed by Rob Van Alkemade, 91 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC It’s hard to reconcile what has become the modern American version of Christmas and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at Luke 12:15, where the man they called Christ warns against covetousness, “for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” I don’t know if real pastors are preaching such anti-materialist messages this holiday season, but performance artist Bill Talen ponders the question of Christ’s capitalist instincts under the guise of “Reverend Billy” in this diverting new documentary produced […]

  BY MATTHEW DADDONA In 12 years, Bryan Singer hasn’t made a film nearly as electrifying or groundbreaking as The Usual Suspects, a testament not only to himself but also to the nature of fast, gripping crime stories. Singer, who recently directed the X-Men films and Superman Returns, is the mastermind behind this 1995 drama’s wit and suspense, and quite simply, the delicious irony of its title. The film opens with literal bang: A mysterious explosion on a ship, in which 27 men die over a reported $91 million in cocaine. From there we meet all the ‘usual suspects’ in […]