Email Author Melissa Levine

2005 Stories by Melissa Levine

• Spent

  published November 24, 2005

  Ever since its Broadway debut in 1996, Rent has generated a loyal, almost cult-like following. Showered with praise, the Pulitzer... More >>

• Strange Brew

  published November 10, 2005

  When watching Where the Truth Lies, a film noir about a young celebrity journalist's obsession with a comedy duo from the 1950s, a single... More >>

• Spell It Out

  published November 10, 2005

  Richard Gere? That's the first thought that came to mind upon learning that Mr. Salt-and-Pepper-Sexy-Buddhist-Wasp had been cast as Saul Naumann... More >>

• Say Cheese

  published October 6, 2005

  Ah, Wallace and Gromit. Who doesn't get a little lift at the sound of those names? Who doesn't feel the edges of her mouth begin to tickle toward... More >>

• Something Missing

  published September 29, 2005

  In 2001, Jonathan Safran Foer made an astounding literary debut. "A Very Rigid Search," published by the New Yorker, was his hilarious,... More >>

• The Opposite of Suck

  published September 29, 2005

  About once a year -- twice, if we're lucky -- a first-time director shows up with something original, electrifying, and humane, a film that shows... More >>

• Moore's the Pity

  published September 29, 2005

  It's always hard to pan an earnest film, especially one by a first-time director. And The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, a plucky striver... More >>

• Proof Positive

  published September 22, 2005

  In the tradition of A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting comes Proof, a psychological drama about a math genius and the... More >>

• Low Yield

  published September 1, 2005

  At the opening of The Constant Gardener, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' adaptation of the novel by John le Carré, we hear a... More >>

• A Tale of Two Bastards

  published August 11, 2005

  Toward the end of Saraband, the uneven new film from legendary director Ingmar Bergman, a character sits down with his daughter, a taut... More >>

• Miracle on Ice

  published July 14, 2005

  If you're short on reasons to be grateful these days, look no further than March of the Penguins, the astonishing if imperfect nature... More >>

• Girls Interrupted

  published June 23, 2005

  Not many people saw Lost and Delirious, the 2001 boarding-school drama about two girls in obsessive love, and that was probably for the... More >>

• Chinese Box

  published June 16, 2005

  You're a talented young resident at a New York hospital, first-generation Chinese, and you happen to be gay. In fact, you're dating a new and... More >>

• One for the Girls

  published June 2, 2005

  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a flawed movie born of a flawed novel, but let this be clear: Girls will eat it up with a... More >>

• All the Right Moves

  published June 2, 2005

  Ten is a magical age, when kids are old enough to make articulate statements about their experience and young enough to express their feelings... More >>

• Club Life

  published May 12, 2005

  It won't ruin anyone's experience of 3-Iron, the new film by Korean writer/director Kim Ki-duk, to reveal that it closes with a single... More >>

• Bad Daddy

  published May 5, 2005

  If it's been a while since you've seen a great work of art, perhaps you've forgotten what it feels like: It feels euphoric. At least, that's the... More >>

• A Lot Like Good

  published April 21, 2005

  Amanda Peet. Ashton Kutcher. Romantic comedy. Who'd have thought it could work? And yet A Lot Like Love is an entertainment success, a... More >>

• The Wedding Stinger

  published April 21, 2005

  Marriage of convenience is not a new subject. In films, in novels, and in countless television shows, we have been invited to witness both the... More >>

• Unreal as It Gets

  published March 31, 2005

  What if a man has no friends? What if he speaks only when spoken to, and then only of the weather? What if, every day of the week, he attends... More >>

• Love, African Style

  published March 31, 2005

  It's always difficult to pan a movie that features good actors, important issues, and noble intentions. But In My Country, a romantic drama... More >>

• Woody and Woody...

  published March 24, 2005

  Does the world really need a new film from Woody Allen every single year? Yes, he is one of America's great auteurs. Yes, he's responsible for... More >>

• The Camera's Weeping Eye

  published March 10, 2005

  Toward the end of Born into Brothels, a superb and piercing documentary by directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, a 12-year-old child... More >>

• He's Got Legs

  published February 17, 2005

  Beautiful Boxer, the true story of a Thai transgender kickboxer, is a well-intentioned film with a heart of gold. Unfortunately, it also... More >>

• Pooch Kicks

  published February 17, 2005

  It's hard to know what to expect from Wayne Wang. The Hong Kong-raised director has made one gorgeous mood movie (Chinese Box ) and two... More >>