One must be certain to assess the message in itself, and not provide one’s judgment based on a grander context of the artist’s anti-Americanism. Yes, Platoon is anti-American, versus the more anti-war horror portrayed more magnificently in Apocalypse Now. But arriving at this point cannot use the shortcut of Oliver Stone’s extracurricular.   What exactly makes this film....

Are the turns of a simple life crucially important to tell? The Cider House Rules answers in the affirmative, yet we are left scratching our heads as to what is meant by the display, other than the eponymous “heart-felt”. In other words, this is female cat-nip in the same vein as Steel Magnolias.   The main critique with “heart-felt” drama is that it ends where it begins;....

Everyone has problems. Coping is a symptom of the human condition then. And how one copes is as unique as the individual.   In the case of the Shrink that occupies the title of the film, that coping is copious amounts of marijuana. It is a near constant stream of inhaling marijuana cigarettes, in between therapy sessions, talk show sessions, and marijuana purchasing sessions. Early on....