Film
The Men Who Stare at Goats: George Clooney Cant Read Your Mind
Goats begins with the mind-fucking assertion that “more of this is true than you would believe.” And would…
Film
An Education: The Decade She Became a Woman
The title is a double entendre in An Education, the film version of British journalist Lynn Barber’s memoir…
Film
The Horse Boy: Autism, Unfortunate. So Is the Movie
There’s a moment in this documentary when the father of its subject, an autistic child named Rowan, explains…
Film
Import/Export: Ugliness on Both Sides of the Old Iron Curtain
Like its bifurcated title, Ulrich Seidl’s film offers an exercise in parallel storytelling, tracing the journeys of Olga…
Film
Motherhood: No, Uma, No
Casting against type is one thing, but putting Uma Thurman—an unheralded character actress; the more extraordinary the character,…
Film
Skin: A Moving Apartheid Tale
If ever there were a true-life tale that laid bare the laws of South African apartheid in all…
Film
A Christmas Carol: Carrey and Zemeckis Bury Dickens
Nothing if not a meaty yarn, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a lot more besides, but Robert Zemeckis,…
Film
Irene in Time: Henry Jaglom Refuses to Retire
Casually dismissed by those who place a premium on things like narrative, visual lucidity, and editorial smoothness, writer/director/emotional…
Film
Act of God: Death From the Skies!
With her 2007 SIFF-favorite documentary Manufactured Landscapes, Canadian director Jennifer Baichwal proved she had an eye for the…
Film
Beeswax: Mumblecore Comes of Age
Though no one’s idea of an action film, Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax feels less charmingly aimless than its radically…
Film
Antichrist: Lars von Trier Continues to Annoy
Lars von Trier’s doggedly outrageous, fearsomely ambitious two-hander is so desperate to make you feel something—if only a…
Film
Halloween DVD Roundup: Looking for Horror in the 1980s
Apart from the stray slasher flick, Halloween is traditionally a dead spot on the Hollywood calendar. This week’s…
Film
Chelsea on the Rocks: The Hotel Is Iconic. Not So the Movie
One New York institution (Abel Ferrara, b. 1951, the Bronx) regards another (The Hotel Chelsea, b. 1883, West…
Film
Ong Bak 2: Tony Jaa Is Upstaged by Elephants
You’re not always entirely sure what is happening in Tony Jaa’s new movie, but there certainly is a…
Film
Good Hair: Chris Rock Mocks Locks
Don Imus’ hateful, racist 2007 remarks about “nappy-headed hos” underscored the immense fear of and fascination with the…
Film
The Damned United: Michael Sheen Is Nothing Like Tony Blair
We call it soccer, but for the Brits it’s football, and it’s damn serious business. From 1968 to…
Film
The Headless Woman: Car Crash and Consequences
I’m a big admirer of Lucrecia Martel’s 2002 La Ciénaga, and her latest also centers quite frankly on…
Film
Crude: Our Thirsty SUVs Destroy Latin America
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Why? Because it’s thick with sludge. Moving briskly through…
Film
Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant: The Movie, Yes, Is in Need of Assistance
The vampire trend continues, but the only authentic bloodsuckers in Cirque du Freak are its producers and studio…
Film
More Than a Game: LeBron James Builds His Brand
This documentary follows Akron’s Fab Four (later Five) kids on the basketball court, from their “Shooting Stars” traveling…