Film/TV
675 results
Page 52
Ben Affleck's "Argo': CIA in Iran
How not to make a movie
Ben Affleck's Argo, about the real-life rescue of six U.S. embassy personnel from Iraq in 1980, begins promisingly as a satire on Hollywood filmmaking and CIA ineptitude but soon settles into Hollywood formula. Despite Affleck's liberal bona fides, it's finally a contribution to political reaction.
Articles
7 minute read
"Skyfall': The allure of James Bond
We expect you to die, Mr. Bond — but not just yet
Why do we still care about James Bond? The films are mostly disappointing, and the Ian Fleming novels are downright embarrassing. No matter: We Americans are hopelessly hooked on British suavity and probably always will be.
Articles
4 minute read
TV's 'Walking Dead': Why kill zombies?
Revenge of the couch potatoes
Why do some 10 million Americans watch “The Walking Dead,” the violent zombie TV series on the American Movie Classics channel? Well, what could be more satisfying than vicariously murdering death?
Articles
3 minute read
Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master' (2nd review)
The American Dream as nightmare
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master hauntingly juxtaposes two stories of American madness in the aftermath of World War II, one about a berserk veteran and the other about a cult leader. With a superb Philip Seymour Hoffman, and an astonishing Joaquin Phoenix.
Articles
7 minute read
Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master' (1st review)
Is this Citizen Kane, or The Lost Weekend?
Contrary to its misleading title, The Master isn't about a false messiah but about one of his pathetic acolytes. Director Paul Thomas Anderson seems not to understand that sumptuous photography and penetrating acting are no substitute for story.
Articles
4 minute read
Nick Jarecki's "Arbitrage'
The cost of doing business
Nick Jarecki's debut film is a slick Wall Street drama with a police thriller grafted on. Are Wall Street's Masters of the Universe destined to get away with everything forever? Apparently; but they do pay a price.
Articles
5 minute read
'Marvin Gardens' and Woodstock's lost innocence
Life imitates art: The lost lady of Marvin Gardens
In The King of Marvin Gardens I sensed Bob Rafelson flinging his seasoned assessment of Nixon's America into America's teeth. Perhaps tellingly, the adults involved in this dark and quirky film subsequently flourished, while its only cast member from the Woodstock/Aquarius generation perished.
"Singin' in the Rain' turns 60
A musical that keeps growing on you
What's so special about Singin' in the Rain? No one perceived this musical comedy about the dawn of talking pictures as a classic when it opened in 1952. Two things explain why its popularity continues to grow, 60 year after its premiere.
Articles
3 minute read
"Mansfield Park': Book vs. film
The unmaking of an Austen heroine
How much fidelity does a filmmaker owe to the source novel— especially if the novel's heroine is deliberately plain, boring and unsexy?
Articles
5 minute read
David Frankel's "Hope Springs'
Sexless in America: If Meryl and Tommy Lee can't do it....
Hope Springs is a women's wish-fulfillment film about rekindling that lost spark in your marriage when sex has become more of a job than a joy. If only the Baby Boomers had known the '60s sexual revolution would come to this.
Articles
5 minute read