If the Beatles can be considered a force that redefined the genre of rock ‘n’ roll, it should now be said that Julie Taymor’s film “Across the Universe,” an unrelentingly lush visual exploration of the Fab Four’s repertoire, does much of the same for the American musical. The film’s plot, though at times skating on [...]
Though it runs the risk of stereotyping a wonderful culture and country, it’s fair to say the British do dark comedy better than any other group of people in the entertainment industry. Black comedy is a hard genre to pull off successfully. If the film goes too dark, it can feel forced, unpleasant and in [...]
When you think of R-rated adult comedies, you tend to consider the classics: “Harold and Kumar,” “American Pie” and “There’s Something About Mary.” The appeal of these laugh-out-loud adult films are what the Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter, were trying to recreate when remaking Neil Simon’s “The Heartbreak Kid.” They fell surprisingly short, however. Ben [...]
What distinguishes Charles Ferguson’s “No End in Sight” from other documentaries about the Iraq War is Ferguson’s lack of celebrity. Where Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” is bogged down by his persona and sensationalism, Ferguson’s stinging indictment of the war focuses on the cold, hard facts. Ferguson draws on extensive insider testimonies to reveal unsettling truths. [...]
Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunset,” a golden diary of the 80 minutes shared by two hypothetical soul mates as they glide through Paris, is a triumph in part because it mediates its humanism without lapsing into sloppy pathos. It creates two people we may choose to love despite being dragged through their requisite faults, reminding us [...]
Coming back from war, many soldiers are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is caused by extreme psychological trauma and, on returning, stateside soldiers coming back from war zones realize they cannot let go of some of the things they did. In Paul Haggis’ newest film, “In The Valley of Elah,” retired Army sergeant [...]
The devil is in the details. “The Kingdom” weaves a tantalizing web that is slowly and teasingly unraveled by the discovery of seemingly minute and meaningless details, and its mystery is ultimately solved because of two small observations. This meticulous attention to detail is evident in the opening sequence, a succinct three-minute timeline of Saudi [...]
