The Hanging Garden
The Hanging Garden 1997, R, 91 min. Directed by Thom Fitzgerald, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chris Leavins, Troy Veinotte, Kerry Fox, Sarah Polley, Seana Mckenna, Peter Macneill, John Orenstein, Christine Dunsworth, Joel S. Keller, Jocelyn Cuningham, Martha Irving. Past, present, and future all share the stage — individually and collectively — in…
Lawn Dogs
Lawn Dogs 1997, NR, 100 min. Directed by John Duigan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mischa Barton, Sam Rockwell, Kathleen Quinlan, Christopher McDonald, Bruce McGill, Eric Mabius, David Barry Gray. Psychologically one-dimensional and overburdened with heavy-handed yet random symbolism, Lawn Dogs is nevertheless redeemed by its earnest good intentions and the two lovely…
Small Soldiers
Small Soldiers 1998, PG-13, 108 min. Directed by Joe Dante, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, Jay Mohr, Phil Hartman, Kevin Dunn, Ann Magnuson, Denis Leary, Dick Miller, Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Michael McKean. It would be easy to reduce Small Soldiers to the story’s…
Madeline
Madeline 1998, PG, 89 min. Directed by Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Frances McDormand, Hattie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Daniels, Chantal Neuwirth, Kristian De La Osa, Stéphane Audran. Madeline opens, not surprisingly, with a voiceover: “In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines …” With those…
Mr. Jealousy
Mr. Jealousy 1998, R, 102 min. Directed by Noah Baumbach, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eric Stoltz, Anabella Sciorra, Chris Eigeman, Carlos Jacott, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Peter Bogdanovich, Bridget Fonda, John Lehr. A comedy of obsessive insecurity, Mr. Jealousy dives deep into the foamy green waters of emotional malaise and surfaces with nary a…
The Land Girls
The Land Girls 1998, R, 111 min. Directed by David Leland, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh. Not reviewed at press time. In 1941 as World War II continues, England finds itself short of young men and the Women’s Land Army is formed, dispatching young women…
Hands on a Hard Body
Unpretentious insight into the nature of human aspiration can be found in Bindler’s documentary about the yearly contest in which Jack Long Nissan of Longview, Texas, gives a new hard body pickup to whomever can keep his or her hands on it the longest.
