
Paul Tatara
Paul Tatara was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 17, 1963. Tatara and his family moved to Arab, Alabama (pop. 6,800) when he was 4 years old. During his formative years, he focused almost solely on playing baseball, basketball, and football. Though he's still a Cleveland sports fanatic -- the return of the Browns in 1999 made him cry -- movies have been Tatara's guiding passion since the age of 14. He graduated from Auburn University in 1985. After graduation, he lived in Gainesville, Florida for 5 years, where he managed a record store. Music is another driving force in his life, with Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan serving as his Holy Trinity. (Thelonious Monk, Randy Newman, and Frank Sinatra would also squeeze in there, given more than three slots). The highlight of his Florida retail career came when rock icon Bo Diddley (a regular customer) plugged up in front of the store, hit a groove, and proceeded to jam on the same whump-a-thump riff for about 5 hours. Eventually, Tatara had to tell him to beat it. If only movies worked this way. Tatara moved to New York City in 1990 to pursue a career in writing. He has written several spec screenplays, as well as an unproduced script for 20th Century Fox. He also adapted "The Thrill of the Grass," a short story by W.P. Kinsella, for an episode of a future TV series to be produced by Kennedy/Marshall Productions. His original screenplay, "The Almost Perfect Game" (based on the career of former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee), is currently in development at Paramount Pictures, with Woody Harrelson set to star and produce. Since January 1997, he's been trying to entertain and inform people by daring to write what he actually thinks about movies for CNN Interactive. He has also been covering movies and pop culture for goodauthority.org since late 1999. He is endlessly amazed at how often this honesty irks some readers. Tatara is a traditionalist, preferring steak and potatoes to elaborately seasoned seaweed, and stories about recognizable human emotions to shots of screaming extras outrunning the umpteenth fireball. He says he'll apologize for the things he writes in his movie reviews as soon as the studios make amends for completely selling out what could still be a thriving art form. He suggests something on the order of the blanket settlement by the tobacco industry. Considering how many lousy films he's watched over the years, this would leave him sitting pretty.
http://www.servtech.com/~whitfitz/tatara.htm
Movies reviews only
Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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The Big Lebowski (1998) |
Yes, it's different. Yes, it's odd. Yes, it's got some laughs. For all those "yeses," though, it eventually adds up to an overly busy "no." - CNN.com
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| Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Down in the Delta (1998) |
Down in the Delta is almost mind-boggling. How can a woman with the kind of insight that Angelou displays in her poetry and other writings not see that she was dealing with a script that spells things out as if it was written with a big, fat crayon? - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Jan 05, 2023
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The Celebration (1998) |
I'll be thinking about this movie for a long time to come. - CNN.com
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| Posted Sep 22, 2020
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Brassed Off (1996) |
"Brassed Off" is about as sloppy as it gets, but for nearly two-thirds of the movie the gushiness is pretty much kept in check. And those two thirds are quite a treat. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2020
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The Devil's Advocate (1997) |
You don't care about any of the characters, so there's no fear of something nasty happening to them, and, with the exception of Pacino (who plays the devil himself), it's terribly miscast. - CNN.com
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| Posted Aug 10, 2020
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The Bachelor (1999) |
"The Bachelor" is as generic as they come, the kind of commercial fabrication that sets up a pair of hackneyed concepts, then runs them in concentric circles until there's enough footage to cut together a movie. - CNN.com
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| Posted Jul 13, 2020
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Irma Vep (1996) |
I really enjoyed "Irma Vep." I will, however, be the first to admit that it's not for everybody. - CNN.com
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| Posted Jun 16, 2020
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Mother (1996) |
What's really surprising here is that Brooks has finally discovered the very human heart beating beneath his trademark malcontent. - CNN.com
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| Posted Jun 05, 2020
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Liar Liar (1997) |
I would tell you that this is a loud, obvious, one-joke movie, but most of you would run out and pony up the eight bucks to see it anyway. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Apr 07, 2020
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Lake Placid (1999) |
Miner's thoroughly unimaginative visual style sees to it that "Lake Placid" is not the least bit frightening, and the entire undertaking generates maybe one decent laugh. That is, if you don't count Fonda's chronic inability to act. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Jul 09, 2019
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Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) |
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a misfire in several ways, but the key problem is that the writers have a clunky, concrete Christmas tree, not something thematic that can be used to devise scenes of various shades and colors. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted May 23, 2019
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But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) |
But I'm a Cheerleader is a smug little comedy that tries to mock other people's self-righteousness while ignoring its own. - CNN.com
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| Posted Mar 31, 2019
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The Matchmaker (1997) |
It simply isn't all that funny. - CNN.com
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| Posted Jan 23, 2019
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Pokémon: The First Movie (1998) |
"Pokémon: The First Movie" is a dose of extremely low-budget "Japanimation" that -- were it only more proficiently executed -- would rival "Scooby Doo" as the most astounding work of art in the 20th century. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Jan 15, 2019
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Event Horizon (1997) |
Don't worry, it's not you. It really doesn't make any sense. - CNN.com
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| Posted Dec 15, 2018
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Scary Movie (2000) |
These gags are hardly the height of inspiration, but it could be that people laugh at them because they're not as pathetic as a character having a penis jabbed through his head like an ice pick. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Oct 19, 2018
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Cats Don't Dance (1997) |
Cats Don't Dance is a blast... There's a pleasing luminescence to the animation, with colors that glow like neon throughout. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Aug 15, 2018
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The Postman (1997) |
It's about as inspiring as a movie about a vengeful meter reader. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 16, 2018
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The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) |
It's like you're watching two models slap each other with fashion magazines. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 16, 2018
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Dear Jesse (1997) |
Kirkman's big accomplishment is that he makes your blood boil even while the heat is turned on low. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 16, 2018
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John Carpenter's Vampires (1998) |
So, John Carpenter's Vampires stinks, and "Paul Tatara's Review of John Carpenter's Vampires" won't be a review so much as it'll be a check list for posturing teenage boys. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 09, 2018
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Kurt & Courtney (1998) |
Turns out that the whole movie is wobbly, a slapdash, unsure concoction of hearsay and decrepitness that does for the documentary format what shows like Hard Copy do for TV journalism. "Sleazy" isn't the word for it. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 09, 2018
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Snitch (1998) |
All the camaraderie aside, these are not particularly likable characters, yet [Leary] still manages to make you care about Bobby. It's been a long time since even Robert DeNiro pulled that one off, and Leary deserves as much credit as he can get. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 09, 2018
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Velvet Goldmine (1998) |
I'm telling you, I was bored stiff. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 08, 2018
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Happiness (1998) |
As sharp as some of the writing is, Solondz is still not enough of a director to successfully negotiate this emotional minefield. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 07, 2018
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Eve's Bayou (1997) |
This one is the real torch carrier for a literate new beginning. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 07, 2018
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Meet Joe Black (1998) |
You just feel like you're dragging a set of dumbbells around with you while you're watching it. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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B. Monkey (1998) |
Even with all the film's problems, Argento's charisma keeps things relatively interesting for lengthy stretches of time. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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End of Days (1999) |
Arnie's not taking any chances this time, and the result is the most questionably repulsive big-budget film in recent memory. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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Insomnia (1997) |
Insomnia is the sort of picture big studios used to make when they still believed they could take audiences on a ride without rubbing their faces in digital gloss. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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The 13th Warrior (1999) |
Akira Kurosawa's brilliant samurai movies -- especially 1957's Throne of Blood -- are a visual influence. But the script lacks the dignity that infuses Kurosawa's equally blood-thirsty characters. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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Clay Pigeons (1998) |
One of those post-Coen Brothers crime thingys that goes to extremes to make sure that everyone knows the filmmakers are too painfully cool to really mean anything they're showing you. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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The Other Sister (1999) |
I tell you what, if I see one more movie where two people suddenly bond while dancing together, or someone "grows up" before your eyes while cutting a rug, I'm gonna strangle myself. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 06, 2018
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True Crime (1999) |
It's all wrong; Eastwood is even miscast. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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The X-Files (1998) |
I came close to getting very excited on several different occasions, and that's saying something when you consider that I thought the experience would be more like participating in a card game that's beyond my comprehension. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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The Butcher Boy (1997) |
The Butcher Boy is a trip, all right, but one that I'm sorry I took. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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Disturbing Behavior (1998) |
Lots of shots are held for upwards of a minute, too. I know that's not much, but if you're ambitious enough to gain sustenance from something other than nice belly-buttons, you take what you can get. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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Sweet November (2001) |
Any movie in which a dying person dons a rainbow-colored fright wig is in serious trouble. But if it also stars Keanu Reeves, well, welcome to the 10-worst list. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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Hannibal (2001) |
No tension, no rhythm and no sense of purpose ... unless you count helping "Faces of Death" fans feel more evolved. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) |
Wenders is one of those previously coherent cult directors who's reached the point at which he thinks he's accomplishing something by horsing around with his friends. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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The Caveman's Valentine (2001) |
Nearly unwatchable ... but maybe next time. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 05, 2018
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Freddy Got Fingered (2001) |
Take a bow, 20th Century Fox, and don't forget to flush. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 03, 2018
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Tomcats (2001) |
Grown men with their own offices found this material amusing enough to film. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 03, 2018
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Say It Isn't So (2001) |
Field, for her part, can finally relax. We no longer like her. We really no longer like her. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Feb 03, 2018
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Jerry Maguire (1996) |
Cruise is very good in small moments with Dorothy's son, played charmingly by Jonathan Lipnicki, but in some of the bigger scenes his performance is so wrong-headed you can't imagine what he was thinking. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Aug 24, 2016
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Spice World (1997) |
"What's the plot?" you may be asking. Well so am I. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Jun 21, 2016
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The Pillow Book (1996) |
The Pillow Book is obsessed with obsessive erotic obsessiveness. If you've ever trembled at the thought of having Japanese characters painted on your nude body, this is the film for you. Bring a lunch; it feels like it'll never end. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted May 02, 2016
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Face/Off (1997) |
I won't pretend that I completely enjoyed it, but it certainly has a few elements that I've never seen before. Action aficionados will undoubtedly slobber all over themselves. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Jul 28, 2015
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Eyes Wide Shut (1999) |
At least Fellini pulled out the stops from the first minute when he wanted to get surreal. Here, realism fades into surrealism, then into outright foolishness. Morbidly paced foolishness. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Dec 14, 2014
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The Blair Witch Project (1999) |
Whenever night falls, the movie takes off, but in a slow creep, with all your childhood fears of the dark suddenly revealing themselves as absolutely reasonable. - CNN.com
Read More
| Posted Sep 29, 2014
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