Category Reviews

In Italian writer Carlo Collodi’s 1882 fairy tale, Pinocchio is a puppet, a wooden marionette in the form of a child. In Roberto Benigni’s 2002 remake of the tale in which Benigni stars as the puppet, he is neither wooden…

In the documentary film “A Decade Under the Influence,” Robert Altman remarks, “I’m not interested in stories.” Presumably, he meant he is more interested in characters and their relationships than in plot or story line. This is evident in all…

“West Side Story” won everything in sight when it was released in 1961, including Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins), Best Supporting Actor (George Chakiris), Best Supporting Actress (Rita Moreno), Best Cinematography, Best Costumes,…

Physically, the West Wing is an office building located within the White House compound that holds the President’s Oval Office and the offices of the President’s support staff. Historically, it was built in 1902 as a temporary office by President…

There are probably better things a person could do with his time than spend it watching the boorish comedy, “Sordid Lives.” You could, for instance, sit cross-legged in the middle of your living room and wait for a spider to…

During the season of autumn, every Saturday afternoon finds millions of Americans watching a game of College Football. Stadiums are built to hold over a hundred thousand people, and the heritage and passion of its fans are unmatched by any…

Orson Welles is said to have remarked that no great film was ever made in color. Hyperbole or no, “To Kill a Mockingbird” surely makes Welles’s case. Although the movie does not quite measure up to the rich tapestry created…

For the better part of 2002, I have been reviewing Paramount’s massive output of “Star Trek” DVDs. With 6 seasons of “The Next Generation” and 2-disc special editions of “The Wrath of Khan” and “The Search for Spock” under my…

“My Fair Lady” is one of the best and most popular stage musicals of all time. It has what so many more-recent musicals do not have–an intelligent script, great acting, clever dialogue, and an endless stream of memorable tunes. While…

Every fall brings a slew of new television shows. Most don’t last beyond a few episodes, and even fewer get to finish their first years. Despite the fact that science-fiction as a genre (in any media) is considered to have…