Name: Randall A Byrn
Dateline: New York, NY
Weblog: handyfilm.blogspot.com
Articles: 52
First Published: Thursday, June 1, 2006
Last Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Currently listing articles 52-1:
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Theater Review (NYC): Hair in Central Park— "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" returns to work magic under the stars in Central Park.
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Movie Reviews: The 2008 New Directors/New Films Festival— Four excellent movies that played at this indispensable annual look at new cinema talent.
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Movie Review: Atonement— A wonderful first hour, great performances, beautiful images - but a deeply flawed movie.
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2007 at the Movies: A Look Back— 24 good reasons to go to the movies (or rent them for home viewing) this year
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No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood Defeated by Pretension— The two most-awarded movies of 2007 are both well-made disappointments.
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Concert Review: Sufjan Stevens Premieres The BQE in New York— Sufjan introduced a new orchestral work in Brooklyn last week - but the real treats came later, in his song set.
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Theater Review (NYC): Young Frankenstein— Though it's overdone in nearly every way imaginable, there's still much fun to be had in Mel Brooks's latest Broadway extravaganza.
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Movie Review: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford— Brilliantly directed and acted, this excellent movie is being unjustly ignored by audiences
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Movie Review: Lake of Fire— This brilliant and incendiary documentary about the politics of abortion could be the best movie of the year.
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Movie Review: Into the Wild— Although much too uncritical of its lovable lunatic protagonist, this is an exhilarating, epic-sized emotional journey.
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Reviews From The 2007 New York Film Festival— Winners and duds from the 45th New York Film Festival...
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Movie Review: The Darjeeling Limited— Wes Anderson's great-looking new film has charm to spare, although some may find it superficial.
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Movie Review: Across the Universe— Musical masterpiece or silly overblown nonsense? Maybe Julie Taymor's new movie is a bit of both.
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Movie Review: Sicko— Fairness, schmairness - Michael Moore's look at healthcare will make you laugh uproariously, but leave you in tears
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DVD Review: Katharine Hepburn - The 100th Anniversary Collection— This set might be unkindly called "leftovers" - but it collects some lesser-known Hepburn gems you'll want to see.
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Movie Review: Taxi to the Dark Side— Just awarded the Best Documentary prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, this is a powerful film about detainees in US custody
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Movie Reviews from The 2007 New Directors/New Films Festival— Nine new movies from the recent New Directors/New Films festival in New York: all interesting and some very fine indeed.
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Movie Review: Zodiac— David Fincher's unsettling new movie is more than just a serial killer thriller.
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Movie Review: The Host— A genuinely scary and original monster movie from Korea.
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2006 at the Movies: Looking Back— Spotting trends among the outstanding movies of the year - plus a few goodies you may have missed.
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Movie Review: Dreamgirls— Not exactly a good movie, but a dazzling audience-pleaser.
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Movie Reviews: Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men, and More— Not lighthearted holiday fun: four movies featuring brutal violence and extraordinary images.
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Movie Review: The Good Shepherd— Call it the anti-Bourne (or the far flip side of Casino Royale) - deadly serious spies, gloomy sex, a dark night of the Cold War
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“Is the ‘War on Terror’ a Myth?” and Other Questions— A few things we ought to be asking our government, loudly and persistently
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Music Review: Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas— On the verge of achieving much bigger popularity, Sufjan has a really nice Christmas present for you.
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Remembering Robert Altman— A look at the amazing output of this great director in just a seven year period.
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Holiday Movies: The Best One of All - Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life— There's no doubt what the best Christmas movie is. Could it be the best American movie, period?
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Reasons to be Cheerful, or The Far Side of Paradise— Far from leading to ‘two years of hell,’ the elections may bring us real dialogue and, gasp, near-sanity in Washington.
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Theater Review: Grey Gardens at the Walter Kerr Theater, New York— The cult documentary becomes a cult Broadway musical.
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Movie Review: Rosemary's Baby— The best horror movie ever made, and one of the best American movies, period.
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19 Movies in 23 Days: This Year's New York Film Festival— Exhausted but happy after this marathon - the new films were a mixed bag, but the revivals were amazing
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Movie Review: Shortbus— Although it may gain notoriety for its sex scenes, this new indie is basically a sweet, big-hearted romantic comedy.
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TV Movie Reviews: When the Levees Broke and Andy Warhol— For two years in a row now, a pair of extraordinary TV documentaries are the most interesting and powerful new movies you can see anywhere
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Movie Review: The U.S. vs. John Lennon— Surprisingly, the best parts of this well-done biographical documentary have little to do with the title.
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Movie Review: Scoop, Match Point, and the Decline of Woody Allen— Scoop is one of the brighter spots in the long decline of a great artist.
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Movie Review: Little Miss Sunshine— It basically wants to be a nice little movie. For better or worse, that’s just what it is.
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Movie Review: Half Nelson— Don't miss two of the very best performances of the year.
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TV Review: Pilots from NBC’s Fall Season - Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped— Two reasons to look forward to the fall TV season.
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Movie Review: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby— Uproariously silly fake NASCAR biopic
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Movie Review: A Scanner Darkly— Eye-catching but unsatisfying science fiction, with hybrid live action/animated visuals.
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Theater Review: Spring Awakening, An Off-Broadway Musical— Songs by Duncan Sheik provide the thrills in this daring if uneven new musical.
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Movie Review: Superman Returns - In Imax 3D— Pretty good movie - but is it how one of our most talented directors should be spending the best years of his career?
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Movie Review: The Road to Guantanamo— Could a movie change the world?
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Movie Review: The Devil Wears Prada— Streep gives the comedy performance of the year — the decade? — the century?
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Movie Review: Wordplay And Who Killed the Electric Car?— They would probably be better as a double-feature totaling two hours instead of three, but both these documentaries are good fun and worth your time.
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DVD Review: Ryan's Daughter— This may be the most beautiful DVD around.
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Movie Review: The War Tapes— Three National Guardsmen were given video cameras to record their 16-month tour of duty in Iraq. This film is the result.
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Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright at Carnegie Hall— Rufus channels Judy and it's much more than just a stunt.
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Movie Review: The Power of Nightmares— A stunning nonfiction film essay that calls the "War on Terror" a myth created by politicians.
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TV Review: Battlestar Galactica— Somewhere in the second half of the first season, I began to realize just how good this was: in fact, a pop masterpiece.
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Movie Review: A Prairie Home Companion— Lighter than Air: Nashville it ain't, but the new Robert Altman is still a treat.
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Movie Reviews: Army of Shadows, The Da Vinci Code, and The Expectations Game— Is it better to expect a movie to be terrible? Does that help you enjoy it more?


