Save the Last Dance enjoyed a profitable release in early 2001, with box-office earnings that exceeded anyone's expectations. Its performance illustrates the staying power of a formulaic film that avoids the pitfalls and clichés that would otherwise render it forgettable. Since there's nothing new here, you'll appreciate the original quirks in a character-based plot that's just around the ...
Those who remember the children's animation Bod from the 13 episodes broadcast by the BBC in 1975 generally recall, with considerable precision, not stories but images. This is because the stories that constitute Bod, created by Joanne and Michael Cole, are mere wisps of narrative, in which, almost always, almost nothing happens (in "Bod and the Cake", for example, no cake arrives), ...
An irresistible, comic drama from director Alan Parker (Evita, Mississippi Burning), overflowing and alive with passion, humor and music, The Commitments showcases some old R&B standards in a new light. A headstrong, fast-talking, ambitious young Dubliner (Robert Arkins) fancies himself a promoter of talent, and sets about assembling and packaging a local Irish R&B band. His ...