Stephen Miller's "Conversation'

Have a conversation (before we forget how)

Stephen Miller traces the art of conversation from ancient Sumer to its high point in 18th-Century British coffee houses to its terminal phase in the age of TV, rap artists and the Internet— a gloomy conclusion to an engaging book.

Patrick D. Hazard

May 11, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Vincere' and the pitfalls of passion

Going belly-up for Mussolini

How could a society nurtured by Dante, Michelangelo, Verdi and Puccini fall in love with a tacky bully like Benito Mussolini? Marco Bellochio's remarkable Vincere goes a long way toward supplying the answer.

Dan Rottenberg

Apr 28, 2010 · Articles · 4 minute read

Atom Egoyan's "Chloe'

Who's doing what to whom?

Veteran filmmaker Atom Egoyan's latest, Chloe, features a lethal sex triangle in which the victims are hard to tell from the victimizers— or is there a difference at all?

Robert Zaller

Apr 06, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dickstein's "Dancing In the Dark'

Great Depression, greater paradox

Morris Dickstein's cultural history of the Great Depression has elevated our intellectual level several notches, revealing clearly and eloquently how the many pieces of a complex industrial culture fit together.

Patrick D. Hazard

Mar 30, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

"The Ghost Writer': Polanski's revenge

Polanski gets even

Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer takes a swipe at imperial America and its far-reaching tentacles. Polanski, who still faces extradition to the U.S. on a decades-old rape charge, has an axe to grind, but he also holds up a mirror that reflects the way much of the world sees us.

Robert Zaller

Mar 23, 2010 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Crazy Heart' vs. 'The Wrestler'

Jeff Bridges vs. Mickey Rourke: Kinder, gentler, and less effective

Crazy Heart is yet another “performer on the skids” story, but one with a killer soundtrack and masterful acting by Jeff Bridges. But the film lacks the gut-level truthfulness the less accomplished Mickey Rourke brought to every frame of The Wrestler. Crazy Heart. A film directed by Scott Cooper, based on a novel by Thomas Cobb. At Ritz at the Bourse, Fourth and Ludlow Sts. (215) 925-7900 or www.landmarktheatres.com, Also Bryn Mawr Film Institute, Ambler Theater, and local chains.

Judy Weightman

Mar 13, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

"The Hurt Locker' and the endless war

The limits of unflinching realism: One nagging question
 about The Hurt Locker

For its realistic portrait of a bomb squad in Iraq, The Hurt Locker won six Academy Awards, including “Best Picture.” Yet the small truths within this film implicitly condone the larger lies that took us into that war in the first place.

Robert Zaller

Mar 09, 2010 · Articles · 7 minute read

Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air' (2nd review)

The American Dream meets the Angel of Death

Jason Reitman's Up in the Air is this year's Hollywood morality tale. It's a throwback to Preston Sturges and Howard Hawks— in short, a Depression-era film for our depressed times. Up In the Air. A film directed by Jason Reitman, from the novel by Walter Kirn. At the Ritz Five, 214 Walnut St. (215) 925-7900 or www.landmarktheatres.com.

Robert Zaller

Feb 23, 2010 · Articles · 7 minute read

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis,' restored

Metropolis, as Lang intended it

Fritz Lang's futuristic 1927 silent masterpiece, Metropolis, isn't for everyone. But the recent discovery of a missing hour's worth of footage will help untangle some of the film's conundrums.

Andrew Mangravite

Feb 13, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

In defense of Jane Austen's prose

Jane Austen is still good in bed

Some folks rejoice at the current spate of Jane Austen film adaptations because they find her novels impenetrable. But if Austen's books are such a slog, why have they remained in print continuously for almost 200 years?

Alaina Johns

Feb 07, 2010 · Articles · 4 minute read