http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/movies.shtml Reviews of independent and wide-release films written by lead critic Joe Lozito and his merry band of crackerjack movie reviewers. Fri, 09 May 2008 03:02:12 PST en-us http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Speed_Racer-1548.shtml Reviews The Wachowski brothers adapt the classic 60s cartoon as a candy-colored visual sugar-rush that, despite its name, takes a while to cross the finish line. Thu, 08 May 2008 09:03:51 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Speed_Racer-1548.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/What_Happens_in_Vegas-1554.shtml Reviews "What Happens in Vegas" is a lot like the city for which it's named – boisterous, silly and probably a lot more fun when intoxicated. Thu, 08 May 2008 07:40:55 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/What_Happens_in_Vegas-1554.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Harold_Kumar_Escape_From_Guantanamo_Bay-1549.shtml Reviews Harold and Kumar are back but it is the viewing audience that will be plotting their escape while watching this unfunny drivel. Wed, 07 May 2008 10:34:53 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Harold_Kumar_Escape_From_Guantanamo_Bay-1549.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Made_of_Honor-1540.shtml Reviews Patrick Dempsey continues his meteoric rise to the middle in this joyless romantic comedy retread. Thu, 01 May 2008 10:56:07 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Made_of_Honor-1540.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Redbelt-1532.shtml Reviews Ill-conceived morality play set in the world of mixed martial arts is clearly a labor of love for writer-director David Mamet. It's just a labor for the audience. Thu, 01 May 2008 05:29:59 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Redbelt-1532.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Iron_Man-1536.shtml Reviews Saddled with a fairly typical superhero "origin story", director Jon Favreau compensates with some inspired choices: keeping the pace as fast as possible and casting Robert Downey Jr. as the man behind the mask. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:15:12 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Iron_Man-1536.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Constantines_Sword-1535.shtml Reviews Ex-priest James P. Carroll brings to film his explosive views on the relationship between Christianity, anti-Semitism and governments. Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:41:20 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Constantines_Sword-1535.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Standard_Operating_Procedure-1533.shtml Reviews Errol Morris goes behind the scenes of the Abu Ghraib incident and the results are a well-made but mostly unremarkable documentary. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:54:31 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Standard_Operating_Procedure-1533.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Anamorph-1529.shtml Reviews Newcomer Henry Miller directs and co-authors this search for a serial killer in a hazy, hellish version of New York City. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:01:51 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Anamorph-1529.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Baby_Mama-1527.shtml Reviews Paper-thin comedy - in which Tina Fey's OCD career woman hires Amy Poehler's ADD surrogate mother - is worth seeing only for its seriously talented comedic leads. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:00:50 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Baby_Mama-1527.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/top-ten-summer-movies-joe-1521.shtml Editorials Joe picks his ten most anticipated films of the Summer 2008 movie season. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:31:40 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/top-ten-summer-movies-joe-1521.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/The_Forbidden_Kingdom-1513.shtml Reviews For their first co-headlining film, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have chosen a rote piece of chop-socky that's liable to please only their most devoted fans. And even them, not so much. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:33:40 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/The_Forbidden_Kingdom-1513.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/88_Minutes-1492.shtml Reviews Al Pacino is a noted serial-killer-profiler who must find his own murderer before it is too late in this ghastly overdose of red herring. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:20:02 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/88_Minutes-1492.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/smart-people-1509.shtml Reviews Annoying people find the way to happiness with the help of an overgrown adolescent. It sounds familiar because it is. Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:57:00 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/smart-people-1509.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Leatherheads-1484.shtml Reviews George Clooney's goofy ode to the origins of professional football is nothing short of an old-fashioned screwball comedy. And a pretty good one at that. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:12:45 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Leatherheads-1484.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Flight_of_the_Red_Balloon-1473.shtml Reviews Hsiao-hsien Hou's incredibly earnest attempt to recreate the magic of "The Red Balloon" falls short. Was any other outcome possible? Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:53:17 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Flight_of_the_Red_Balloon-1473.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/shotgun-stories-1482.shtml Reviews Two sets of half-brothers have a deep hatred for each other and when it finally boils over, the dominoes begin to fall. Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:55:37 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/shotgun-stories-1482.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Stop-Loss-1478.shtml Reviews Well-meaning attempt to call attention to the wildly unfair practice of sending troops back to war after their tour of duty is over is told with broad, obvious brushstrokes. Still, it's good that it was told at all. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:45:33 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/Stop-Loss-1478.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/run-fat-boy-run-1198.shtml Reviews Former "Friend" David Schwimmer makes his feature directorial debut with this minor British comedy about a chubby schlub trying to win back his left-at-the-altar girlfriend. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:12:00 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/run-fat-boy-run-1198.shtml http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/21-1477.shtml Reviews An MIT professor secretively trains his best students in blackjack before taking them to Las Vegas to win big bucks in this entertaining and mostly fact-based tale. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:09:47 PST http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/21-1477.shtml