Looking for Richard

You know I like Shakespeare. Not only does director Al Pacino present the lion's share of the Richard III in this documentary examination of bringing the play to life, but he, the other actors, and various scholars pour an enormous amount of analysis and perspective onto the screen. Watch this and you will feel like an Elizabethan scholar for days thereafter.

Training Day

Intense, troubling and all too real. Good work by Denzel Washington, but Ethan Hawke should not be overlooked here--he certainly holds his own against the award-winner. This is the sort of movie that gets you thinking about the state of society for many days after viewing, and the thoughts are not comforting.

The Hurricane

Excellent biopic based on Rubin Carter's memoirs. According to the reviews, the filmmakers fudged the details a bit, but Carter's story remains powerful, and Denzel Washington brings the former champ vividly to life.