Chuck Koplinski

Open Range More than once the death of the Western has been greatly exaggerated. Whenever critics are ready to hammer the final nail in the genre’s coffin, someone comes along to remind us of why it is the most American of movie types. The Western has always served as a reflective template for whatever social […]

Seabiscuit The story of champion racehorse Seabiscuit and the three men who shaped his destiny sounds like the worst sort of Hollywood hokum. Tragedies affect all of the characters and seem designed to pull at our heartstrings. Yet the story behind the Laura Hillenbrand best-seller and this fine adaptation by director Gary Ross is true. […]

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde If a comedy falls in a theater and nobody laughs, is it still a comedy? Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde–the sequel to the surprise 2001 hit starring Reese Witherspoon as a dumb blonde who gets into Harvard Law School–sure looks like a comedy. It contains bright, […]

Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines Yes, Ah-nold is back as the Terminator. This third time around, Schwarzenegger is a bit more willing to make fun of his character, which has become an indisputable icon of our pop culture. The irony is aided by director Jonathan Mostow’s breezy pacing, which plays up the laughs. In Terminator […]

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle I tried. I really tried to get into the world of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, a place were the laws of physics don’t apply and hot babes survive massive car crashes and explosions without a hair out of place. I did my best to believe director McG is fashioning a new […]

Alex and Emma After director Rob Reiner bombed with his last two films–1996’s Ghosts of Mississippi and 1999’s The Story of Us–he returns to familiar territory with Alex and Emma, a delightful romantic comedy that borrows heavily from two of his biggest hits, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally. The premise is more […]

Bend It Like Beckham Fox Searchlight Pictures has gone out of its way to tout the British import Bend it Like Beckham as the next My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It’s easy to see why. Both feature repressed female heroines in the unenviable position of having to reject rigid cultural conventions and familial traditions. Both […]