Is it any wonder that our current democratic systems have turned into popularity contests? Is it any wonder that most Western politicians primarily rely on intricate advertising schemes to continuously validate themselves? For those whose eyes still blink in bewilderment at what the political landscape looks like today, Gabe Polsky’s Red Army gives us an…
Cameron Crowe’s latest film, Aloha, his first larger scale project since 2011’s “We Bought a Zoo,” does not, unfortunately, come with the zest and alacrity of it or some of his earlier better works, like “Jerry Maguire.” It is light-hearted, well-intentioned (Hawaiian virtues are espoused) fare tailored to an audience that sees space as something…
The question wasn’t why it took so long to make Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, the unanticipated sequel to 2009’s “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” as much as why waste the time, money and effort to make one at all. The original was a mediocre comedy at best and at worst was the indirect inspiration for…
“Suffering is what was born. Ignorance made me forlorn. Tearful truths I cannot scorn” — Allan Ginsberg Co-directed with Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders’ (“Pina”) The Salt of the Earth chronicles Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado’s essays shot over a period of thirty years in one hundred different countries. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at…
Over the course of three films, Neill Blomkamp has demonstrated a consistent interest in the body and the effects of the world upon it. “District 9” featured transformation into the undesirable while “Elysium” highlighted the inscription of class divisions onto the body. Chappie continues this conceit but with a reversal of Blomkamp’s debut — rather…
Though Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind,” many of us deal with the frustrations of modern life by striking out against a society we see as oppressive. We rail against the politicians who misgovern us, the bureaucrats we tangle with, or simply against a world that does not…
The tragic decay of a brilliant woman’s mind is given a gentle, poignant examination in Still Alice, a deeply moving and beautifully minimalized drama that sweetly takes the high road and finds in its protagonist’s struggle room for love and courage. Adapted from the novel by Lisa Genova and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash…
