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BETSY SHERMAN

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Review: Bedtime Stories

Sandler reassures his audience
Adam Sandler returns to his simpering manchild persona in this witless ode to "imagination" directed by Adam Shankman.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | December 23, 2008

Review: Seven Pounds with Will Smith

A gimmicky tale annoyingly told
Will Smith's previous film with director Gabriele Muccino, The Pursuit of Happyness, was a tale well told. Their new one is a gimmicky tale annoyingly told.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | January 06, 2009

Review: JCVD, Jean-Claude Van Damme

A comic but poignant collision of biography and filmography
Action hunk Jean-Claude Van Damme, who hasn't had a US theatrical release in years, found a more creative venue than Celebrity Rehab in which to seek redemption.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | November 11, 2008

Almost worth seeing Bruce

Rarely feels like more than a padded sketch
Chisel-profiled B-movie icon Bruce Campbell struck gold not with any particular role but by detailing his career ups and downs in a very funny memoir, If Chins Could Kill .

By: BETSY SHERMAN | November 05, 2008

Ashes of Time's sumptuous return

Sumptuous, angsty swordplay drama
Ashes ’ sumptuous tapestry depicts intersecting tales in a mediæval China teeming with 20th-century angst.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | October 25, 2008

An American Carol

A dissent-bashing tale
A Michael Moore–esque documentarian changes his stars and stripes after trying to abolish the Fourth of July.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | October 09, 2008

The Pool

Quietly moving, and full of dark secrets
Chris Smith, maker of the hilarious indie gems American Job and American Movie , set this quietly moving story in the Indian state of Goa, using a mostly non-professional cast.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | October 01, 2008

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

A smart, refreshing teen romance
In what has been an excellent year for comedies, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist ensures that the young ’uns won’t be left out.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | October 01, 2008

Beautiful Losers (2008)

An energized portrait of Alleged Gallery artists
A documentary, directed with Joshua Leonard, about an energized group portrait whose accessibility is abetted by the artists’ collectively keen sense of humor.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | September 24, 2008

Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild

A campy, smutty, neon-hued, extremely silly good time
Todd Stephens brings back the characters from Another Gay Movie for a homo-erotic Where the Boys Are .

By: BETSY SHERMAN | September 23, 2008

Momma's Man

A lovely cocoon of a movie
Jacobs films his childhood home with grace and endows it with an air of mystery.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | September 16, 2008

Babylon A.D.

Incoherent and somewhat amusing
Vin Diesel’s bad-ass boomfest will do if you’re in the mood for post-environmental-apocalypse action that doesn’t make you think too hard.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | September 03, 2008

What We Do Is Secret

Exposition trumps atmosphere
That staple of the musical bio-pic — a close-up of dope bubbling on a spoon — punctuates Rodger Grossman’s account of the short life of Darby Crash.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | August 20, 2008

Mamma Mia!

Passable, frothy fun
The Abba musical, helmed by stage director Phyllida Lloyd, sails to a real Greek island with its fairy-tale aura intact.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | July 16, 2008

Elsa y Fred | Elsa + Fred

Geriatric hijinks abound
Set in modern-day Madrid, Marco Carnevale’s gentle romantic comedy slaps two touchstone images from Italian cinema on the screen.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | July 16, 2008

Sputnik Mania

A brisk, informative documentary
The film underlines the political consequences of the space race.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | June 11, 2008

The Promotion

A bumpy seesaw ride
Reilly is an actor who excels at both realism and caricature — too bad the director doesn’t have the chops to take advantage either way.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | June 11, 2008

The Animation Show 4

Skewed humor and sophisticated animation
The traveling collection of international animation gems is back.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | June 11, 2008

Deception

Unimaginative erotic thriller
Director Marcel Langenegger has a way with a nocturnal urban landscape, but his feature debut goes splat on the pavement.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | April 30, 2008

Military Intelligence and You!

Clever, clever conceit
No satirist can take credit for making “freedom” and “liberty” sound as campy and as bullying as they have lately.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | March 19, 2008

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