Louis B. Parks

Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Houston Chronicle,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Critics' Group:
Houston Film Critics Society
Movie Reviews Only
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33% | Radio Free Albemuth (2014) |
Modestly budgeted but professional, this film has some imaginative visuals and a strong cast. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Dec 4, 2014
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1/4 | 31% | The Vow (2012) |
"The Vow" is a cinematic box of candy wrapped in bright red cellophane. Like any box of chocolates, you have to bite a lot of bad centers to get to the few good ones. - San Francisco Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 9, 2012
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2.5/4 | 32% | Fanboys (2008) |
Even geeks enjoy poking fun at geeks. And they really know how. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 6, 2009
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2/4 | No Score Yet | Surfer, Dude (2008) |
Surfer, Dude is a bizarre throwback. It feels 25-30 years out of date and seems to be meant to be watched on VHS, oops, make that DVD, while stoned. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 12, 2008
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3.5/4 | 77% | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) |
Partly due to its intensity, Order of the Phoenix is better than the first four in the series. Also credit a much tighter, meatier script and better acting. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 10, 2007
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3/4 | 82% | Live Free or Die Hard (2007) |
Live Free or Die Hard is the most creative and exciting Die Hard film since the original, though it's hardly the original's equal. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jun 26, 2007
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2/4 | 5% | Broken Bridges (2006) |
When you can get just as good on the Hallmark network, why drive all the way to a theater? - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 8, 2006
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3/4 | 93% | Lassie (2006) |
This new Lassie is no match for the original MGM production (Roddy McDowell, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.), but there are many compensations that make it fine family entertainment. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 1, 2006
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2.5/4 | 22% | Barnyard (2006) |
Adults will get enough laughs to survive gags such as the chickens using a Col. Sanders dartboard but will likely lose patience waiting for the very predictable story and sentiments to slowly play themselves out. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 4, 2006
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2.5/4 | No Score Yet | Paradise, Texas (2005) |
Joe Conway's script needs more dramatic edge and motivation and a less easy resolution, but we're glad when things work out the way we knew they would. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted May 3, 2006
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3/4 | 86% | Slither (2006) |
Slither is seriocomic horror, alternating laughs with gooey, creepy scares. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Mar 31, 2006
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2.5/4 | 18% | Firewall (2006) |
If you're in the mood for a thriller, Firewall will suffice -- barely. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Feb 10, 2006
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3/4 | 82% | Serenity (2005) |
The best summer thrill ride since Batman Begins, Serenity roars in a late but mighty welcome considering this year's sub-fun slate. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 30, 2005
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B- | 61% | Alice et Martin (2000) |
Techine keeps a tight rein on his actors' dramatics. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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70% | Frequency (2000) |
Why gripe about a few minor inconsistencies? Just relax and enjoy the show. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B | 84% | Chuck & Buck (2000) |
All the people of Chuck & Buck feel very human. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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97% | The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (2000) |
It seems too much to ask a movie to entertain, inform and inspire. For it to also work as sports story, social history and biography is a home run with men on base. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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16% | Dudley Do-Right (1999) |
Dudley is merely a dud. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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23% | I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998) |
None of the cast comes off well, but they have little to work with, since the dialogue sounds like it was made up on the spot and performed without rehearsal. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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69% | Keeping the Faith (2000) |
The ending gets a little too cute, and isn't true to Anna's independent nature. Oh well, to forgive is divine. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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78% | Fellini Satyricon (1969) |
Those who don't weaken and bolt for the door experience a one-of-a-kind visual adventure they are unlikely to forget. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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77% | Mansfield Park (1999) |
While this version plays somewhat fast and loose with the original story, and even more so with the heroine's character, it is still much more Jane Austen than not. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B | 83% | Love and Basketball (2000) |
Satisfying, enjoyable and smart. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B | 68% | U-571 (2000) |
It's a wham-bam bumpy ride, great fun in the old-fashioned war movie tradition. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B+ | 94% | Blood Simple (1984) |
The movie is as dark, ironic and fatalistically comic as modern film noir comes. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B | 88% | Girlfight (2000) |
It's obvious Kusama knew what she wanted and was in control, because all the key roles and scenes are played with a uniform tone and conviction. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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B+ | 89% | 42 Up (1999) |
One of the best movie series ever is a true-life drama like no other. Miss it at your peril. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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C- | 40% | But I'm a Cheerleader (2000) |
But I'm a Cheerleader has lots of jokes and gets some amused smiles, but there's no true bite. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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79% | Without Limits (1998) |
Without Limits wins as a sports film precisely because it's not really about sports or a great victory. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 21, 2005
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41% | Miss Congeniality (2000) |
Caine may save the movie, but Bullock is the movie. The confection rests on her considerable off-center charm and beauty. - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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| Posted Oct 24, 2003
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47% | Better Than Sex (2001) |
The director and actors get away with this fluff thanks to the nimble, whimsical way it's played. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Nov 9, 2001
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19% | On the Line (2001) |
On a whole, the movie stays as blandly inoffensive (albeit sometimes annoying) as possible. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 25, 2001
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81% | Innocence (2001) |
It's about grown-ups and for grown-ups. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 25, 2001
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23% | Bones (2001) |
As a horror film, Bones is a half-hearted bust, not likely to really frighten anyone over age 12. It works better if watched tongue in cheek as a supernatural pot boiler. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 23, 2001
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82% | Audition (Ôdishon) (1999) |
There will be many people who consider Audition an atrocity, and a few who find it a stimulating cinema experience. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 19, 2001
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52% | My First Mister (2002) |
It's hard not to enjoy the amusing and sometimes touching turnarounds [Jennifer and Randall] do. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 12, 2001
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77% | Our Lady of the Assassins (2001) |
We never come to care about these characters, perhaps because they seem to care so little about themselves. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 9, 2001
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60% | Haiku Tunnel (2001) |
A low-budget, mild-mannered comedy, often amusing and at times laugh-out-loud funny. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 9, 2001
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73% | Training Day (2001) |
Director Antoine Fuqua, whose credits include the unimpressive The Replacement Killers, keeps a kinetic pace with visually exciting immediacy. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Oct 5, 2001
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46% | Greenfingers (2001) |
It's just too bad the intended charm is applied with a shovel instead of a trowel. Romantic comedy is a delicate flower that can be smothered by too much fertilizer. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 28, 2001
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71% | Bread & Tulips (2001) |
It's a feel-good movie to see with a friend on a rainy afternoon when you both need a little getaway. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 21, 2001
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83% | Lakeboat (2000) |
More play than movie. But it's unusual for either. It's neither plot-driven like many plays nor action- and image-driven like most movies. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 14, 2001
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21% | The Glass House (2001) |
Like Ruby, The Glass House is in conflict with itself. It's confused about what kind of film it wants to be. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 13, 2001
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11% | The Musketeer (2001) |
Often, in the fight scenes, it's hard to tell who is doing what to whom, but since it's all glitz and no content, it hardly matters. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Sep 6, 2001
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21% | John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001) |
Ghosts of Mars, hah. More like Turkey of Mars. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 23, 2001
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29% | Jackpot (2001) |
Its audience is a very narrow spectrum of filmgoers amused by tiny hints at a joke, or the minor peculiarities of a slightly unusual character. All others, beware. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 17, 2001
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44% | Rat Race (2001) |
If you don't think Hollywood movies have gone all soft in the head and heart, compare the sticky sweet ending of this with the finale to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 17, 2001
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14% | American Outlaws (2001) |
A poor script and lame direction leave most of this Western deader than a dogie at a poisoned watering hole. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 17, 2001
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78% | Keep the River on Your Right (2000) |
Schneebaum, a dull and helpless-looking nonentity at first glance, proves to be an amazingly courageous, inquisitive, remarkable man. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Aug 10, 2001
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71% | Made (2001) |
Amusing in the offbeat humor that comes from the wackiness of odd but believable characters. - Houston Chronicle
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| Posted Jul 27, 2001
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