Kon Ichikawa's 'The Makioka Sisters'

Among the cherry blossoms: Bourgeois denial in Imperial Japan

In Philadelphia's August doldrums, International House's film series is one of the few cultural events available. Its presentation of Kon Ichikawa's The Makioka Sisters, based on Junichiro Tanizaki's classic novel, brilliantly invoked the mood and mores of imperial Japan before Pearl Harbor.

Robert Zaller

Aug 20, 2013 · Articles · 7 minute read

"Europa Report': The trouble with outer space films

How do you reason with a humanoid? (And other outer space movie challenges)

For space scientists, the ultimate question is: Does life exist in the vast reaches of the cosmos? But for the rest of us, an equally pressing question is: Will a truly intelligent and watchable film about space exploration ever be made?

AJ Sabatini

Aug 11, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read

Rama Burshtein's "Fill the Void'

Marriage, in all its complexity

New writer-director Rama Burshtein's power lies in her ability to see into the soul of her main character— a young Orthodox Jewish girl awaiting marriage— without judging either the girl or her community.

Carol Rocamora

Aug 09, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Ender's Game': To boycott or not?

The Ender's Game debate: Of homophobes and knee-jerk reactions

What's the appropriate response to a movie based on a novel written by a homophobe? That's the question swirling around calls to boycott the coming release of Ender's Game.

Gary L. Day

Aug 06, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station'

If we love Tony Soprano, why not Oscar?

Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, based on the true tragic story of a young black man gunned down by a rogue cop, pushes all the predictable emotional buttons. But its message is too easy to swallow.

Ilene Raymond Rush

Jul 30, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

A detour along my road to romance

In search of mature love (but finding only immature lovers)

As a devotee of great romantic novels and movies, I spent decades searching for D.H. Lawrence's sensuous gardener from Lady Chatterley's Lover. After seeing Never Again, I switched to exterminators. Would you believe I'm still searching?

Maralyn Lois Polak

Jul 23, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Laurel Hill's "Cinema in the Cemetery'

This cemetery really comes to life

Give Laurel Hill Cemetery credit for an astute marketing perception: Cemeteries, like horror films, offer a safe, contained and even exciting way to tap into our deepest fears and anxieties.

Kayleigh Butera

Jul 23, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

A feminist "Hannah Arendt' (3rd review)

A thinking woman in an old boys' club

Hannah Arendt may have been wrong about Adolf Eichmann, but she was right about the banality of evil. And much of the verbal abuse she suffered came not from Holocaust survivors but from male academics who resented her intrusion into their domain. Hannah Arendt. A film directed by Margarethe Von Trotta. At the Ritz at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead St., (215) 440-1181 or www.landmarktheatres.com.

Victor L. Schermer

Jul 09, 2013 · Articles · 7 minute read

"Hannah Arendt,' ill-served again (2nd review)

When bad movies happen to profound philosophers

Attempting more than a courtroom drama of the Eichmann trial but less than a full biography of Hannah Arendt, the filmmakers pack too many complex relationships and big ideas into 113 minutes with far too little intellectual substance for support.

Gresham Riley

Jul 08, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

The ordeal of "Hannah Arendt' (1st review)

Enemy of her people?

For the crime of trying to understand Nazi behavior and raising uncomfortable questions about how to cope with evil, the political theorist Hannah Arendt became a pariah among her fellow Jews.

Dan Rottenberg

Jun 27, 2013 · Articles · 7 minute read