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moviesMoviesReviews of the latest films.2NA=1154&NC=1210&DI=4098&PS=58328&PI=7315MovieReviewfalsefalseCulturespacernotembeddedmoviesBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New OrleansDana Stevens1/123122/2202502/stevensd.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2009112041609PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:09 PM6339433056953395062009112041609PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:09 PM6339433056953395062009112041609PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:09 PM633943305695339506false2008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM6335984621800000002008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM633598462180000000falseWerner Herzog and Nicolas Cage invent their own blend of crazy.noBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New OrleansBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleansreviewed.noThis review only needs to consist of six words: Werner Herzog. Nicolas Cage. Bad Lieutenant. Not every one of those elements (with the possible exception of Herzog's name) is enough to sell a movie on its own, but the combination? Most definitely. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Edward R. Pressman Films) isn't really a remake of Bad Lieutenant, Abel Ferrara's 1992 exploration of a crooked cop's journey through the depths of spiritual debasement. It's more like a dream one might have after watching the original Bad Lieutenant, doing three lines of cocaine, staying up all night, and collapsing on some none-too-clean sheets in a seedy New Orleans motel. The main thing the two films share is a fascination with abjection—these aren't just bad lieutenants, they're baaaad lieutenants. It's a fascination so extreme and so systematic that it exists at the permeable border between high drama and low comedy.truenotochyperlinkno2009112034711PMFridayNovNovember1511/20/2009 8:47:11 PM6339432883100000002009112034711PMFridayNovNovember1511/20/2009 8:47:11 PM633943288310000000moviesIllegal Use of Sandra BullockJosh Levin1/123122/2202502/levinj.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2009112050753PMFridayNovNovember1711/20/2009 10:07:53 PM6339433367364389602009112050753PMFridayNovNovember1711/20/2009 10:07:53 PM6339433367364389602009112050753PMFridayNovNovember1711/20/2009 10:07:53 PM633943336736438960false2008101711643PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:43 PM6335984620300000002008101711643PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:43 PM633598462030000000falseThe Blind Side should have been a great movie about football.noIllegal Use of Sandra BullockThe Blind Side reviewed.noMichael Lewis' book The Blind Side tells the true story of Michael Oher, a poor black kid who gets adopted by a rich white family and transforms himself into a football star. The movie version zooms in on Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), the woman who gave the hard-up prodigy the care and feeding that he needed to become a man and an NFL draft pick. This feels less like an artistic choice than an economic one. The Blind Side plays like filmmaking by focus group, a movie that aims to please and ends up condescending to its audience.truenotochyperlinkno20091120112524AMFridayNovNovember1111/20/2009 4:25:24 PM63394313124000000020091120112524AMFridayNovNovember1111/20/2009 4:25:24 PM633943131240000000moviesThe Twilight Saga: New MoonDana Stevens1/123122/2202502/stevensd.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2009112041611PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:11 PM6339433057183018102009112041611PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:11 PM6339433057183018102009112041611PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:11 PM633943305718301810false2008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM6335984621800000002008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM633598462180000000falseI can't defend this movie, but I loved it.noThe Twilight Saga: New MoonThe Twilight Saga: New Moon reviewed.noSometimes a critic's aesthetic judgment is impossible to extricate from what you might call her cinematic libido. There are movies that bring us a pleasure that's neither definable nor defensible. These used to be called "guilty pleasures," but that phrase seems too judgmental, too pre-Vatican II, for our postmodern era of omnivorous cultural consumption. The distinction between high and low culture, between what we're allowed to enjoy publicly and what we must sneak off to savor in private, has effaced itself to the degree that "guilty pleasures" needs to be replaced by a more morally neutral term. For our purposes here, I'll go with a term that a friend and I coined in college and that I still deploy on occasion: movies we couldn't intellectually defend but still unapologetically loved we called "juicebombs."truenotochyperlinkno2009111963219PMThursdayNovNovember1811/19/2009 11:32:19 PM6339425233900000002009111963219PMThursdayNovNovember1811/19/2009 11:32:19 PM633942523390000000moviesIt's the End of the World as We Know ItDana Stevens1/123122/2202502/stevensd.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2009112041612PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:12 PM6339433057226161802009112041612PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:12 PM6339433057226161802009112041612PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:12 PM633943305722616180false2008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM6335984621800000002008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM633598462180000000falseBut Roland Emmerich's 2012 will make you feel more than fine.noIt's the End of the World as We Know ItRoland Emmerich's 2012.noAfter you've seen 2012, listen to our earth-obliterating Spoiler Special discussion:truenotochyperlinkno2009111342704PMFridayNovNovember1611/13/2009 9:27:04 PM6339372642400000002009111342704PMFridayNovNovember1611/13/2009 9:27:04 PM633937264240000000moviesFantastic Mr. FoxDana Stevens1/123122/2202502/stevensd.gif4242http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2009112041619PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:19 PM6339433057940807962009112041619PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:19 PM6339433057940807962009112041619PMFridayNovNovember1611/20/2009 9:16:19 PM633943305794080796false2008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM6335984621800000002008101711658PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:58 PM633598462180000000falseYou don't want to watch this movie, you want to climb inside it and play.noFantastic Mr. FoxFantastic Mr. Fox reviewed.noThe experience of Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight), Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of the Roald Dahl book for young readers, is like being magically shrunk down to 1:12 scale and set loose for 90 minutes in an exquisite, handcrafted, dizzyingly well-stocked dollhouse. If, like me, you're a lifelong aficionado of miniatures—someone who still presses their nose to toy-store windows filled with cunningly crafted furniture and tiny kitchen supplies—this movie will seduce you on tactile terms alone. The animal characters' real, shiny fur, gently moving in the wind! The infinitely detailed sets and props: acorn-patterned wallpaper, cutlery made from deer hooves, bespoke corduroy jackets with tiny stalks of wheat in place of pocket squares! You don't want to watch this movie, you want to climb inside it and play.truenotochyperlinkno2009111290625PMThursdayNovNovember2111/13/2009 2:06:25 AM6339365678500000002009111290625PMThursdayNovNovember2111/13/2009 2:06:25 AM633936567850000000200311442703PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:27:03 PM631781584230000000200311442703PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:27:03 PM631781584230000000falsetruetruetruetruetruetrue20011018111443PMThursdayOctOctober2310/19/2001 3:14:43 AM6313904368300000002001102983750AMMondayOctOctober810/29/2001 12:37:50 PM631399414700000000