Email Author Michael Atkinson

2006 Stories by Michael Atkinson

• SLIFF Redux

  published November 15, 2006

  The following are staff-chosen highlights from the second week of the St. Louis International Film Festival. For a complete list of films and... More >>

• Populist Mechanics

  published September 20, 2006

  According to its publicity, bringing Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel All the King's Men to the screen again has always been "a cherished... More >>

• About a Boi

  published August 23, 2006

  One of the weakest and most ridiculous aspects of popular culture is its narcissistic now-ness. There's often no then or later, and without past... More >>

• All Wet

  published July 19, 2006

  It would be a mighty sweet thing to see M. Night Shyamalan as the great redemptive storyteller he clearly thinks he is — or as he portrays... More >>

• The Citizen Kane of Crap

  published June 28, 2006

  The Devil's Sword (Mondo Macabro) Few trash movies live up to their reputation, but here's a balls-out wonder that surpasses... More >>

• This Time It's Serious

  published May 17, 2006

  Winter Passing (Fox) Try this, should you be inclined to rent this downer from writer-director Adam Rapp: Skip from chapter to... More >>

• That Stinking Feeling

  published May 10, 2006

  Our anemic movie industry recycles so relentlessly that even our complaints about such plasticized repackaging comes off as recycled product of... More >>

• Technicolor Yuan

  published May 3, 2006

  Coming closer even than Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers to resembling the Chinese cover art for an Iron Butterfly album, Chen Kaige's... More >>

• Nouveau Noir

  published April 19, 2006

  Calling Rian Johnson's teen indie drama Brick a piece of stuntwork might seem tantamount to hitting it with a pie, but it's a... More >>

• Sans Quentin

  published April 5, 2006

  You may not yet have lost your ardor and respect for the pressure-point hammerblow Quentin Tarantino executed on American movies, but it's... More >>

• Puff Piece

  published March 29, 2006

  "You want an easy job, go join the Red Cross," someone says well into Thank You for Smoking, a gleeful farce about capitalist... More >>

• It's a Crime

  published March 22, 2006

  Given Inside Man's bullpen (director Spike Lee, stars Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster), moment in political history and... More >>

• Now You See Them

  published March 22, 2006

  Breasts: A Documentary (First Run) Honest, compassionate, and funny, this documentary is remarkable for the bravery of its... More >>

• Look Away

  published March 8, 2006

  Anyone who remembers the 1977 Wes Craven film The Hills Have Eyes, which was and remains a piece of Milwaukee-beer shit, remembers... More >>

• This Dogg's Got Bite

  published March 8, 2006

  The Tenants (Sony) Fifteen seconds into the video for "Nuthin but a G Thang," it was obvious that Snoop Dog had charisma to... More >>

• Hard Ride

  published March 1, 2006

  Didn't Richard Donner retire? A 1980s star-director name, among many, that should now send bolts of discouraging dread down your spine, Richard... More >>

• The Great Cash-In

  published March 1, 2006

  Walk the Line (Fox) No matter what a junkie does with his spare time -- say, redefine country music, or forge one of... More >>