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Movies
The Tip of the Iceberg
It’s been nearly five years since we first witnessed the shocking photos of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated, tortured, and dehumanized in Abu Ghraib. It’s easy to look at these pictures and demonize the MPs in the photos (and the MPs responsible for the photos) and focus on this group of "bad apples". But, were these MPs just following the Standard Operating Procedure? How much do these photos really reveal? More
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Movies
When Masochism and Narcissism Collide
Watching first-time director Gil Kofman’s The Memory Thief is a singularly disquieting experience, but isn’t that the point? The film, which incorporates the videotaped testimonials of actual Holocaust survivors into its fictitious tale of a tollbooth collector fixated on concentration-camp atrocities, is not so much about Hitler’s systematic slaughter of the Jews as it is about wounded people struggling to cope with profound loss. More
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Movies
Mamet Gets in the Ring, With Uneven Results
David Mamet’s sharp, bruising dialogue has informed tales of desperate salesmen, murderous con artists and blue-collar labor leaders, men for whom hostility, if not the explicit threat of violence, is an ever-present workplace reality. Rarely has Mamet explored the fight game, as he does with mixed results in Redbelt, but careful observers will recognize in his latest thriller some of the characters and themes that have become staples of his hyper-masculine storytelling. More
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Movies
An Exceptional Coming-of-Age Tale
Written and directed by Garth Jennings (one-half of Hammer & Tongs, a music video and commercials directing/producing duo), Son of Rambow is an imaginative, occasionally daft, ultimately engrossing coming-of-age tale set in England during the 80s. With Gondry-inspired visuals, the best synth-pop tracks of the decade, note-perfect turns by its young cast, and an unfailingly honest, sometimes raw, depiction of teenagers and social cliques, Son of Rambow is easily one of most refreshingly original films to come along this year (or any year for that matter). More
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Movies
The Wachowskis Are Back
After a five-year hiatus, brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy) are back behind the camera with Speed Racer, the family-friendly, live-action adaptation of the 60s Japanese animation series (released in Japan as Mach GoGoGo). Their hiatus hasn’t lessened the Wachowski Brothers’ desire to create new worlds that exist only as binary code inside a server somewhere. Unfortunately, someone neglected to point out that moviegoers over the age of six will struggle to keep their attention from wandering during Speed Racer’s two hour-plus running time. More
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Movies
And Almost Lost the Audience
Helen Hunt’s (As Good as It Gets, "Mad About You") first film, Then She Found Me debuted at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Along with Alice Arlen and Victor Levin, Hunt adapted Elinor Lipman’s 1990 novel. She also stars as April Epner, a 39-year old schoolteacher facing a midlife crisis, exacerbated when her immature husband, Ben (Matthew Broderick), leaves her and moves back in with his mother. To add to an already emotionally wrenching time for April, her birth mother, Bernice Graves (Bette Midler), a local television host, has just showed up. More
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Movies
Made of Clichés
Given Patrick Dempsey’s ascent to "dreamboat" (aka McSteamy) status on "Grey’s Anatomy", it’s not surprising that Hollywood execs would try to leverage his fleeting swoonability for all it’s worth. Enchanted was a clever romantic comedy of sorts and Dempsey did his part as a handsome and charming would be prince. However, Made of Honor is the kind of film that could end Dempsey’s resurgent film career before it’s even managed to get him laid a few times. More
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Movies
A Thinking Person’s Superhero Film
After more than a year of hype, Iron Man, Marvel Comics’ first film under its new Marvel Studios offshoot finally arrives at a multiplex near you. Iron Man (a.k.a. Tony Stark) seemed like a risky choice for Marvel’s first, big-budget film. While comic book fans are certainly familiar with Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist and superhero, he’s flourished most clearly as the co-leader and co-founder of The Avengers, an All-Star superhero team. More
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Movies
A Losing Hand
Deal is a movie made by poker enthusiasts for poker enthusiasts, and your appreciation of it depends largely on your passion for the game. For those who have passed hours of their lives playing virtual strangers online, or studying the strategies of World Poker Tour aces like Doyle Brunson or Phil Hellmuth, it may prove a worthy diversion, either for its brisk but predictable tournament action or its laughably earnest philosophy, which suggests that the game is just a metaphor for life. If poker’s not your thing, well, there’s always the welcome sight of Burt Reynolds, on hand as a retired legend hungry for one last score. More
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Movies
Life can change in an instant
Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) is relishing the waning days of her senior year in high school indulging in drugs, sex, and whatever else she can get her hands on to escape the boredom and monotony of her small town existence. Life has yet to begin…or so Diana thinks. In an instant, a tragedy changes Diana’s life completely. More
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