Dan O’Sullivan

15 Articles

Not Even Death: Gilliam’s Invincible “Imaginarium”

Terry Gilliam’s new movie, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” doesn’t make sense—at least not in the usual way.

Youth in Revolt: Split Morality

It is bracing to watch Michael Cera, leading contender for World’s Most Lovable Young Person, play a character with an ugly soul.

"Everybody's Fine"...Or Are They?

Everybody’s Fine appears to be a corny sap-story about an endearing old man, played by Robert De Niro, who embarks on an endearing cross-country voyage to reconnect with his grown-up children after the death of his wife. And, indeed, that’s what it is. However, there is something a little shocking here.

Disney Presents The Dark Knight of the Soul (in 3-D!)

Bob Dylan released a Christmas album a couple weeks ago. Which is weird.

'The Box' and the Circle

The Box, the new horror-ish film by Donnie Darko writer-director Richard Kelly, is mostly concerned with horrible things such as free will, malevolent electricity, ritualistic alienation, and the extermination of the human race. However, it is also, tangentially, a Christmas movie.

"The Informant!": A Tragedy of Nonsense

Steven Soderbergh has had a fascinatingly schizophrenic career. It began with the visionary Indie hit “sex, lies, and videotape”; by now, it has expanded to include star-driven capers like “Ocean’s 11-13” without excluding commercially hopeless ventures like a Tarkovsky remake (“Solaris”) and a 4 hour film about Che Guevara (“Che”).

The 'Who Do I Hate Most?' School of Filmmaking

Woody Allen is an old man. I don’t mean this as an insult by any means; it’s amazing that he has continued making movies so prolifically into his 70’s. However, I do sometimes wish he would act his age.

100% All-Encompassing Guide to Every Summer Movie (Part 1)

Dan O'Sullivan evaluates this summer's blockbusters.

"Sunday in the Park with George" Examines the Mythology of Seurat

Last weekend in the ’92 Theater, 2nd Stage presented “Sunday in the Park with George,” a Stephen Sondheim musical that investigates the ideas and mythologies surrounding artists. For better or worse, the focus of “Sunday” is all there in the title: an artist and his one moment of glory.

SciLi DVD Report #2: Douglas Sirk Edition

"Though you are gone from me We never can really be apart What’s written on the wind Is written in my heart...”

Bump in the Night: An Intriguingly Muddled Hauntingfrom

The Haunting in Connecticut is no breakthrough when it comes to ghost stories, though it occasionally threatens to be.

The Finest SciLi Films: The Passion of the Dane

Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer’s way of seeing things is just crazy enough to make you believe it.

Neko Case’s Swirling, Dark “Middle Cyclone”

Apparently, some of singer-songwriter/force of nature Neko Case’s new album, “Middle Cyclone,” was recorded in an old barn – and it sounds like it. The record is filled with memories, but it also has an empty, echoing space, room for ghosts and melancholy.

“Friday the 13th”

Killing Scantily-Clad Teenagers in a Hockey Mask, Part XII: A Michael Bay Production

For Better or Worse, These Films Will Probably Win Some Oscars

It’s cleverly engineered to attract prestige without necessarily deserving it. Does Oscar Bait rot our brains?