Reviews

The Dead Girl

Too bad she's a feminist

By TOM MEEK | March 21, 2007

2.5 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for The Dead Girl.

Wrapping together several shorts linked by a common theme and calling it a feature seems to be the trend du jour in indie filmmaking — take Babel, or Quentin Tarantino in Four Rooms, Sin City, and the upcoming Grindhouse. Here the attempt is admirable, often chilling, as the title entity crops up in five variations, starting with its discovery in a field. A young forensics student (Rose Byrne) believes the body to be her missing sister, a sociopath (Nick Searcy) is suspected of the heinous act, and, of course, almost to the point of overkill, the young woman herself appears in the flesh, a fast-living prostitute (Brittany Murphy) on her way to see her daughter for a birthday celebration. Murphy and most of the ensemble turn in fine work; too bad director Karen Moncrieff exploits the succession of broken lives as a feminist diatribe.

Oscar predictions 2010
After years of shrinking audiences and low-grossing Best Picture nominees, the Academy this year is hedging its bets.
New to DVD for the week of January 3, 2006
Broken Flowers , The Cave , The Gospel , Hustle & Flow , and Wedding Crashers
Video clips(2)
Broken Flowers, Wedding Crashers, The Gospel, Hustle & Flow , and The Cave.
Review: Blood: The Last Vampire
Despite inserting a jumble of backstory into his live-action take on an action experiment, director Chris Nahon ( Kiss of the Dragon ) captures some of the visceral thrills of the nine-year-old anime .
Hot Nazi beach reads
Nazis aren't blitzing just the movie screens this year, though — they're also invading the bookstores, with battalions of novels and non-fiction tomes published or upcoming.
Happy Feet
Taking up where March of the Penguins left off, George Miller’s animated film imagines penguins who find love based on their heart songs — songs from the soul that speak to the penguin they’re meant to be with. Watch the trailer for Happy Feet (QuickTime)
The art of violence
The most frightening thing about this play is the prospect that less than first-rate actors can perform it, skating upon its sensationalism rather than sinking into its depths.
Hell Ride
Bishop the director loses touch with Bishop the actor, and then, as scriptwriter, he sails overboard with inane cunnilingus cockamamie.
Shaw business
The Shaw Brothers dominated Hong Kong film production in the ’60s and ’70s, and they produced not only martial-arts epics but also musicals, ghost stories, and melodramas.
The winner and other losers
By my count, there are approximately 14,308 people running for governor of Maine.
Music Seen: Dead of Winter
Peaks and valleys are the name of the game with any showcase of too many songwriters that too many people attend, but by and large, Dead of Winter retains its status as a premier night of homegrown entertainment.
Less

Topics: Reviews , Quentin Tarantino, Brittany Murphy, Rose Byrne

| More

view all

[ 06/02 ] Always, Patsy Cline @ Ogunquit Playhouse

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.