Paul Malcolm
Movies reviews only
Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Scream (1996) |
Scream is a meta-horror film that hilariously parodies the genre's clichés with smarts to spare. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 12, 2024
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Selena (1997) |
For all its simplicity, however, the film is entertaining, even uplifting, with Lopez giving a stellar, confectionary performance. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 06, 2023
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Nothing But a Man (1964) |
While the film could likely be made today without the threat of violence, its honest, sensitive and insightful depiction of black life in America is still without comparison. It's also an indictment of America's institutional racism, both then and now. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jan 31, 2022
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Shrek (2001) |
Murphy steals every scene he's in with equal parts bounce and warmth. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jun 09, 2015
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Shadow Company (2006) |
[A] fascinating, evenhanded documentary. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 13, 2007
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Cut Sleeve Boys (2006) |
[Director] Yeung handles [his characters'] parallel journeys of self-discovery with humor, grace and an occasionally heavy hand, with Leow giving a winning performance as Ash. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Aug 09, 2007
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The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams (2005) |
It's easy to keep blaming Ken Burns for this kind of softcore Civil War porn, but enough is enough: This is a vanity project of the most indulgent order. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jun 07, 2007
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Fakers (2004) |
Such artless inattention to the con man's craft might be overlooked if any of the characters or performers had the personality to pull one over on us, the audience. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Apr 26, 2007
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Quality of Life (2004) |
It's a setup as old as the hills, but the unvarnished simplicity with which first-time director Benjamin Morgan rolls it out makes the tale worth another go-round. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted May 25, 2006
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An American Haunting (2005) |
This 'true account' of the Bell Witch haunting offers an encyclopedic rehash of spook films new and old, dressed out in murky period detail. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted May 04, 2006
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The Fog (2005) |
A film riddled with missed opportunities for good clean scares. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 20, 2005
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The Squid and the Whale (2005) |
in The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach weds his verbal gifts to a fresh visual acuity that brings layers of rich detail to a portrait of a family coping, poorly, with self-inflicted change. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 13, 2005
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Serenity (2005) |
It's the zippy chatter among the Serenity's wised-up space pirates that gives the film most of its punch, but with only serviceable action sequences and largely cookie-cutter effects, you can still sense the void just outside. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 29, 2005
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A State of Mind (2004) |
Gordon gives an intimate, balanced account of how political power, famine, power shortages and a hatred of America have shaped their young lives. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 01, 2005
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Matando cabos (2005) |
Prominently placed in Jaque's bachelor pad is a poster for Down by Law, but it's abundantly clear that Lozano and company have been re-watching Pulp Fiction for the last decade. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Aug 25, 2005
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The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) |
As a salvo in the culture wars, Dukes of Hazzard is a dud, and as an actual movie it doesn't rate much higher. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Aug 04, 2005
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Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (2002) |
The Giants' longevity flows from the fact that they can't be explained, only experienced. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jun 28, 2003
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Spun (2002) |
While his characters wallow and his wasted cast founders in the shoals of Will De Los Santos and Creighton Vero's script, kerlund apes the tics of his primary influences: Oliver Stone, Darren Aronofsky and the photography of David LaChapelle. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Mar 19, 2003
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Dear Fidel: Marita's Story (2001) |
It's a refreshing change from the self-interest and paranoia that shape most American representations of Castro. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Mar 06, 2003
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Poolhall Junkies (2002) |
A one-way ticket to Palookaville. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Feb 27, 2003
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The Jungle Book 2 (2003) |
It can't shake the impression of a video premiere stretched to big-screen size. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Feb 12, 2003
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Dragonfly (2002) |
Despite the film's aspirations to soul healing, its uplift remains mechanical, like an escalator's. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jan 20, 2003
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Rollerball (2002) |
Pushes the Hollywood action movie to stratospheric new levels of incoherence. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Jan 15, 2003
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Skins (2002) |
Rather quickly, the film falls into a soothing formula of brotherly conflict and reconciliation. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 13, 2002
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Take Care of My Cat (2001) |
A captivating coming-of-age story that may also be the first narrative film to be truly informed by the wireless age. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 13, 2002
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Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) |
Nemesis never feels true to itself, its energy never fully engaged. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 12, 2002
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Trembling Before G-d (2001) |
Moving and, ultimately, hopeful -- a hope that extends further than most documentaries allow. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 12, 2002
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Promises (2001) |
Too sincere to exploit its subjects and too honest to manipulate its audience. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 09, 2002
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Wes Craven Presents: They (2002) |
Stinks from start to finish, like a wet burlap sack of gloom. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 05, 2002
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Lilo & Stitch (2002) |
Disney's most winning animated couple since Bambi and Thumper. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Dec 02, 2002
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Juwanna Mann (2002) |
Vaughan brings such disregard to the film that its pedestrian on-court action might as well have been shot from the bleacher seats. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Nov 18, 2002
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Reign of Fire (2002) |
Despite a few epic revelations, we never get a real sense of living, breathing dragons. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Nov 18, 2002
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The Way Home (2002) |
A conventional if appealing tear-jerker. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Nov 14, 2002
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Jackass: The Movie (2002) |
Best wear a helmet and have some fun. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 31, 2002
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I Spy (2002) |
Thomas trudges through the film's action sequences with such obvious disinterest that when Wilson turns from a lackluster fireball to quip, 'Whoa, that was a big explosion,' you really know he's putting us on. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 31, 2002
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The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) |
An amusing scenario, until even Miike seems to lose his taste for the oddly sweet concoction and allows the film to drift aimlessly to a rainbow-hued finale. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 25, 2002
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Looking Through Lillian (2001) |
Torem drifts into formula and his initially promising film goes unbearably soft. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 24, 2002
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The City of Lost Souls (2000) |
While the film throws a solid pop punch, you could still swear you've seen it all before. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 24, 2002
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Swept Away (2002) |
On top of a foundering performance, [Madonna's] denied her own athleticism by lighting that emphasizes every line and sag. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 10, 2002
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American Adobo (2002) |
Guillen rarely gets beneath the surface of things. She lists ingredients, but never mixes and stirs. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 03, 2002
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Ambush (1999) |
[It has] a humanist touch that stands at odds with the film's wholesale demonizing of the scattered Soviet army. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 03, 2002
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Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) |
Your taste for Jonah - A Veggie Tales Movie may well depend on your threshold for pop manifestations of the Holy Spirit. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 02, 2002
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Adventures of Felix (2001) |
It would all be too obviously feel-good if Ducastel and Martineau weren't also tuned in to the liberating drift of the open highway and a sharp native humor that adds needed flesh and blood to their walking metaphors. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Oct 01, 2002
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Girls Can't Swim (2000) |
The film's intimate camera work and searing performances pull us deep into the girls' confusion and pain as they struggle tragically to comprehend the chasm of knowledge that's opened between them. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 30, 2002
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Wasabi (2001) |
The film lapses too often into sugary sentiment and withholds delivery on the pell-mell pyrotechnics its punchy style promises. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 26, 2002
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Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) |
While much of the film's action ... comes live, as opposed to the digital mayhem of the game, Thai director Kaos (a.k.a. Wych Kaosayananda), making his inauspicious Hollywood debut, still can't breathe any life into it. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 19, 2002
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Crop Circles: Quest for Truth (2002) |
Why Crop Circles now, if not to ride the hype of M. Night Shyamalan's Signs to some quick cash? The movie's rambling, slapdash, repetitious nature suggests as much. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 17, 2002
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40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) |
Hartnett's pitch-perfect sexual panic can be hilariously funny. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Sep 16, 2002
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Amy's Orgasm (2001) |
It's supposed to be post-feminist breezy but ends up as tedious as the chatter of parrots raised on Oprah. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Aug 29, 2002
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The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) |
Dismally dull sci-fi comedy. - L.A. Weekly
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| Posted Aug 22, 2002
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