‘The Kids Are All Right’: a quietly revolutionary film
Writer-director Lisa Cholodenko has scored one of the few major crossover hits of the summer with “The Kids Are All Right” which moved from limited art house release to a fairly wide multiplex opening...
View ArticleIs ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’ too gay for America?
Jim Carrey gives the best performance of his career in “I Love You Phillip Morris” but the fact-based movie about an extraordinarily clever gay grifter took almost a year to find a distributor in this...
View Article‘The King’s Speech’ vs. ‘The Social Network’ for Oscar glory
Although the mighty producer and film executive Harvey Weinstein has had his financial problems in recent years, today’s Oscar nominations demonstrate once again his peerless ability to get Hollywood’s...
View ArticleBest actress: The deranged ballerina vs. the worried lesbian
QUICK VIEW- Who will win? Best Picture | Director | Actor | Actress | Supporting Actor | Supporting actress | Screenplay Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence and Michelle Williams all gave outstanding...
View ArticleRent it now: the underrated horror film ‘1408’
“Insidious” opened today to mixed reviews, with some fans comparing it to “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity” in terms of it being a low-tech horror picture with sleeper potential. It’s...
View ArticleRent it now: Annette Bening in ‘Mother and Child’
Annette Bening got a lot of well-deserved attention 2010 for her work in “The Kids Are Alright” — including an Oscar nomination — but few have seen the other superb performance she gave that year, as...
View ArticlePerfect for Halloween: the still-frightening ‘The Innocents’
A bunch of new horror pictures have opened over the past two weekends to satisfy that Halloween urge for something ghoulish. There’s a new “Paranormal Activity” in theaters – number four! — which...
View ArticleIn praise of Stephen Frears (&‘Philomena’)
The Film Society of Lincoln Center is in the middle of a long tribute to the veteran Hollywood director George Cukor who worked steadily from the 1930s through the 1980s — racking up many classics —...
View ArticleRob Reiner tribute: bittersweet Lincoln Center night
It was fun to attend the annual Film Society of Lincoln Center Chaplin Award gala last week. The spring evening is the group’s biggest fundraiser and the prize is prestigious because it is presented on...
View ArticleWill Annette Bening ever win an Oscar?
Annette Bening has been doing outstanding work in movies for close to 30 years, but so far an Academy Award has eluded her. With four nominations to her credit, the star appears to be heading toward...
View Article‘The Seagull’: when self-pity is beautiful
Working from a screenplay by Stephen Karam – author of “The Humans” and “Sons of the Prophet” — director Michael Mayer has made a brisk and beautiful adaptation of “The Seagull.” Anton Chekhov’s 1896...
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