Though director Yaron Zilberman’s first feature A Late Quartet often looks like another episode of “As the World Turns,” or perhaps more apropos, “The Young and the Restless,” its nuanced performances are always dignified and deeply affecting and its look at the discipline it takes to become a successful music group, classical or otherwise, is…
Once thought to be a sort of incendiary indictment of Scientology, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master turns out to have much more on its mind and is far less easily described. Often dipping into non-narrative space and at times seemingly impenetrable, Anderson’s sixth feature is focused on the post-war journey of drifter, loner, and spiritually…
The upcoming movie The Master is going to raise a lot eyebrows in Hollywood. Many have already dismissed it as the 1950’s drama is said to be loosely based on L. Ron Hubbard and his founding of the Church of Scientology (many in the industry are Scientologists). It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd,…
Compare experienced political operatives with their interns and you’ll see more than wrinkled faces and less hair up top separates them. The interns still have fresh ideals and expectations of the candidates they choose to support; the experienced staffers know better. There was a point on a campaign in their past where their own ideals…
Much like athletes, who run on daily workouts, strict diets, and practice, sports films operate on inspiration. And there’s something about the genre that makes grown men cry their eyes out. Perhaps it’s the machismo, making even the most collected male feel comfortable in shedding a tear or two (definitely more masculine to get emotional…
Behind every presidential hopeful, there is a driven man (or woman) who, believing in the cause whole heartedly, is busting their ass in the trenches — doing everything and anything to win. More often than not, there is also a secret stashed away that, if reported on, would ruin the chances of winning the presidency….
Forced to build a contending major league baseball team on a budget, Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s, turns to statistical analysis to draft his players. Traditionalists of the game, however, see this as gaming the system — effectively ripping the fun and purity from the game they hold dear. Based on…
