El Mariachi
March 12, 1993 | With El Mariachi, his already near-legendary debut feature, Robert Rodriguez establishes himself as a filmmaker of impressive self-assurance and — considering his puny budget of $7,000 and…
Hail to Queen Latifah
January 8, 2006 | In an era when movies, music videos and other mass media constantly reinforce the notion that women can never be too thin – that skinny is…
Stormy Monday
May 20, 1988 | Stormy Monday is a sleek, smoky romantic thriller, the sort of atmospheric neo-film noir that even very experienced directors seldom manage to pull off. Surprisingly enough,…
The Fast and the Furious
June 22, 2001 | When the graybeards among us bitterly grouse about Hollywood's inability to “make them like they used to,” chances are good that the complainers aren’t pining for the…
To Sleep With Anger
November 16, 1990 | During the opening seconds of To Sleep With Anger, a middle-aged, sturdily-built black man, all decked out in his Sunday best, sits on a cane chair near…
Ned Beatty on “Hear My Song”
February 16, 1992 | For Britishers of a certain age, the onstage performances and offstage misadventures of tenor Josef Locke are the stuff of legend. For director Peter Chelsom and co-screenwriter…
Hear My Song
February 21, 1992 | With a strut to its walk and a lilt to its talk, and a crafty bit of whimsy up its sleeve, Hear My Song is a…
Fresh
August 31, 1994 | At the start of Fresh, the drop-dead brilliant film by first-time writer-director Boaz Yakin, the title character is introduced as he makes the early-morning rounds of…
Rapid Fire
August 21, 1992 | Brandon Lee carries on the family tradition of martial-arts mayhem and bodacious butt-kicking in Rapid Fire, the first starring vehicle for the handsome son of the late,…
Brandon Lee on “Rapid Fire”
August 16, 1992 | Like father, like son. Like dynamite. Brandon Lee, son of the late, great Bruce Lee, is following in his father’s ferocious footsteps as the two-fisted star of…