Winner of two major awards at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and India’s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2016 Oscars, 28-year-old Chaitanya Tamhane’s first feature, Court, is not a typical courtroom drama but a devastating look at the failings of the judicial system in India. Portrayed by mostly non-professional actors, the film…
“‘I suppose you are right,’ said the Professor reflectively. ‘I suppose we might find it out from him; but I confess that I should feel a bit afraid of asking Sunday who he really is.’ ‘Why,’ asked the Secretary, ‘for fear of bombs?’ ‘No,’ said the Professor, ‘for fear he might tell me.’” — G….
“Is an intelligent being likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?” — Philip Roth, The Counterlife With Indignation, James Schamus makes his directorial debut from his own adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2008 book of the same name. Schamus is most well known as the screenwriting and producing partner of Ang Lee,…
There’s a lot I wanted to like about Equity, a financial thriller featuring three central female characters, including a commanding lead performance from Anna Gunn (“Breaking Bad” TV series). It’s rare to see strong female characters in a Wall Street-set film, especially those as ambitious and calculating as the trio of leads here. And the…
I already know I’m going to receive flack for this, so I’m just going to state it plainly: I have not read Alan Moore’s graphic novel “Batman: The Killing Joke.” I have also not seen any of Warner Bros. Pictures’ animated DC library, including any episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series.” I went into Batman:…
Whether or not space-time is an actual reality or simply an illusion, a convenient concept of the mind to get us through the day, is not relevant here. The Spierig Brothers (“Daybreakers”) mesmerizing film Predestination postulates that it is real, but that is only the starting point of a film that challenges us at every…
The third part of the “Star Trek” series reboot, Star Trek Beyond, does not reach the heights of other film franchises such as “Harry Potter,” “The Dark Knight” or “The Hunger Games,” but it is certainly better than the second installment, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” so thank goodness for small victories . . . Directed…
