The Ice Storm (1997)

I thought The Ice Storm was going to be a first-rate drama but it all seems very calculated. Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, et al. turn up the heat on the acting skills like it's an important film but aye, there's the rub - everyone is acting. Too much of that heat definitely melted this ice.

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The Gathering (2002)

An interesting myth about the Catholic Church (aren't they all?) is mingled with a well-known fact about the Catholic Church to create The Gathering, a watchable film about the beginnings of the Catholic Church. It's not particularly thrilling but it does maintain interest as Christina Ricci bounces around the English town of Ashby Wake trying to figure out why she is in a tee shirt seeing visions. It's benign.

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Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Sleepy Hollow has elements of humor, horror, and who done it? that don't mesh easily. The humor especially doesn't feel sinuous to the story possibly because it is mostly at the expense of Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane. But the film does have a compelling look and, despite some plot holes, director Tim Burton has made an arresting, folkloric ghost story.

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