Film/TV
675 results
Page 53
What I learned from Nora Ephron
What exactly made Nora Ephron so special?
I long for Nora Ephron's recognition, especially since I'm just as witty and urbane as she was. So what was the secret of her success? Let me suggest a few possibilities.
Articles
3 minute read
"Safety Not Guaranteed': Comedies about real people
When is a comedy more than a comedy?
It's easy to laugh at two-dimensional stock characters. But the best comedies find ways to make us laugh at real three-dimensional people.
Articles
4 minute read
Ridley Scott's "Prometheus'
Ridley Scott phones it in
With Prometheus, the acclaimed director Ridley Scott falls afoul of Blumgart's Law, to wit: The bigger the author or director, the more likely he is to be given a free hand, to the detriment of his work.
Articles
3 minute read
"Hysteria' and female sex drive
What women really want
Hysteria is a new film about the invention of the vibrator and its role in liberating women's sexual needs. If only someone could liberate Hollywood from its cinematic cliché needs.
Articles
6 minute read
Gene therapy and "The Forever Fix'
The day medicine changed: Are you ready for gene therapy?
If you don't know about gene therapy, you will soon. Thanks to gene therapy, a boy destined to become totally blind has begun to see clearly for the first time in years. As Ricki Lewis persuasively argues in The Forever Fix, he's just the beginning.
Articles
4 minute read
The BBC's "Jekyll'
The mother of all midlife crises
How would we react to a Jekyll-Hyde split personality in the post-Freudian age? The BBC's “Jekyll” provides a possible (and entertaining) answer.
Articles
3 minute read
Lost Soviet classic: Klimov's "Agony'
Anarchy vs. order in pre-Soviet Russia (and guess who wins?)
Agony, Elem Klimov's 1975 masterwork about Nichols II and Rasputin, was banned in Brezhnev's Russia, which isn't surprising. That is it was made at all, and on an epic scale that clearly required substantial state resources, is the real mystery.
Articles
6 minute read
Joseph Cedar's "Footnote' (2nd review)
Honor thy father
Joseph Cedar's Footnote is a savagely brilliant comedy of ideas that humanizes as prickly a set of personalities— Israel academics at the summit of Talmudic studies— as one could hope (or fear) to meet. It also raises significant issues of honor, authority and truth.
Footnote. A film directed by Joseph Cedar. At the Ritz Five, 220 Walnut St. and other Philadelphia venues. For show times, click here.
Articles
10 minute read
"Martha Marcy' and the truth about cults
Beyond ‘Helter-Skelter': The not-so-awful truth about cults
As a movie, Martha Marcy May Marlene is an extremely scary thriller. As an examination of the cult phenomenon, it's simplistic propaganda the likes of which I— an authority on cults— haven't seen in 30 years.
Articles
8 minute read
Drew Goddard's "Cabin in the Woods'
Horror flick with a conscience
At last: A horror film that asks its audience, “Why are you paying to see young people being butchered?”
Articles
3 minute read