Film
Man on Wire: A Love Letter to lost New York
Part caper movie, part real-life superhero saga, and entirely engrossing, James Marsh’s documentary recounts in Rififi-like detail how…
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The Silence Before Bach: Europeans lord their culture over us
At once cerebral film essay and unsweetened ear candy, Pere Portabella’s Silence Before Bach is nearly as tough…
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American Teen: The YouTube generation gets the movie it deserves
Director Nanette Burstein is so intent here on making a nonfiction version of The Breakfast Club that she…
Film
PICK Chris & Don: A Love Story: A May-December gay romance
Nowhere in this fine, quiet, richly-sourced documentary is the phrase “gay marriage” ever uttered. But then, the relationship…
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PICK A Man Named Pearl: A gardener brings beauty to South Carolina
Feature-length elaborations on quirky, inspiring human-interest stories are generally to be avoided, but I’ll make an exception for…
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Elsa & Fred: A December-December straight romance
Seventy-seven-year-old Elsa (Uruguayan actress China Zorrilla) has what might charitably be called “an outsized personality.” Exuberant, garrulous, completely…
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Kenny: Meet a comic from Down Underdown under your septic tank
Australian comic Shane Jacobson, who has the body of a lumberjack and the sweetly innocent face of a…
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Swing Vote: Kevin Costner fixes our busted democracy
Swing Vote is about twice as smart as you expect it to be and still only half as…
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Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired: Was the fugitive rapist actually a victim?
Along its winding road to crucifying the American judiciary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired—which already aired to mostly…
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The Stone Angel: Ellen Burstyn overcome by Canadian flashbacks!
A stubbornly affecting drama that’s far stronger in its quieter moments, writer-director Kari Skogland’s adaptation of the late…
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CSNY: Déjà Vu: All wars look the same to Neil Young
Neil Young wanted to tour the country that re-elected George W. Bush, dole out some demerits, light some…
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Step Brothers: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly refuse to grow up
Writer-director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights) and his muse, writer-star Will Ferrell, reteam for another round of absurdist…
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Water Lilies: French girls discover sex
The camaraderie of the undesired: Invisible to everyone else, pinched, late-blooming Marie (Pauline Acquart) pairs with Anne (Louise…
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PICK Alexandra: Meanwhile, the Russian war in Chechnya drags on
Spare yet tactile, a mysterious mixture of lightness and gravity, Alexander Sokurov’s Alexandra is founded on contradiction. Musing…
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Mamma Mia!: Meryl Streep sings the music of Abba
Sure, it’s nice that the actors sing their own numbers—Meryl Streep has a fab set of pipes, and…
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PICK Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts: The composer keeps his private life private
Director Scott Hicks (Shine) must have felt some temptation to make this documentary into something like a fourth…
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PICK The Last Mistress: Asia Argento is too sexy for history
Catherine Breillat hitches her wagon to the hottest of European stars, Asia Argento, in a highly entertaining adaptation…
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The Dark Knight: Christian Bale suits up against Heath Ledger
What a brooding pleasure it is to return to Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City–if “pleasure” is the right word…
Film
The Wackness: Ben Kingsley kissing Mary-Kate Olsen? Fine. Then theres the movie
A mixtape of clichés. Writer-director Jonathan Levine takes cuts from a dozen or more “life-affirming” coming-of-age melodramas and…
Film
Love and Honor: Yoji Yamada goes back to the samurai well
At 76, Japanese writer-director Yoji Yamada is still best known in his homeland for a one-time Guinness Book…