Film/TV
682 results
Page 48
Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine' (2nd review)
Woody Allen falls off a streetcar
Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine rewrites A Streetcar Named Desire, updated to reflect the Wall Street crash and the anomic materialism it symbolized. But without Tennessee Williams's poetry or any clear view of its tragic protagonist, the film falls flat.
Articles
7 minute read
Andrei Tarkovsky's "Nostalghia'
Exiles without borders, or: You can't go home again
On the surface, Andrei Tarkovsky's penultimate film is the brooding story of a Russian poet at loose ends in Italy. More essentially it portrays a modern world estranged from itself. Tarkovsky's style requires patience, but the rewards are considerable.
Articles
6 minute read
Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine' (1st review)
Woody Allen does Tennessee Williams
I was startled by how closely Woody Allen's Jasmine resembles Tennessee Williams's Blanche DuBois. I've never seen a Woody Allen character disintegrate before our very eyes with the blinding intensity of Cate Blanchett's Jasmine.
Articles
5 minute read
Kon Ichikawa's 'The Makioka Sisters'
Among the cherry blossoms: Bourgeois denial in Imperial Japan
In Philadelphia's August doldrums, International House's film series is one of the few cultural events available. Its presentation of Kon Ichikawa's The Makioka Sisters, based on Junichiro Tanizaki's classic novel, brilliantly invoked the mood and mores of imperial Japan before Pearl Harbor.
Articles
7 minute read
"Europa Report': The trouble with outer space films
How do you reason with a humanoid? (And other outer space movie challenges)
For space scientists, the ultimate question is: Does life exist in the vast reaches of the cosmos? But for the rest of us, an equally pressing question is: Will a truly intelligent and watchable film about space exploration ever be made?
Articles
6 minute read
Rama Burshtein's "Fill the Void'
Marriage, in all its complexity
New writer-director Rama Burshtein's power lies in her ability to see into the soul of her main character— a young Orthodox Jewish girl awaiting marriage— without judging either the girl or her community.
Articles
5 minute read
"Ender's Game': To boycott or not?
The Ender's Game debate: Of homophobes and knee-jerk reactions
What's the appropriate response to a movie based on a novel written by a homophobe? That's the question swirling around calls to boycott the coming release of Ender's Game.
Articles
5 minute read
Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station'
If we love Tony Soprano, why not Oscar?
Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, based on the true tragic story of a young black man gunned down by a rogue cop, pushes all the predictable emotional buttons. But its message is too easy to swallow.
Articles
3 minute read
A detour along my road to romance
In search of mature love (but finding only immature lovers)
As a devotee of great romantic novels and movies, I spent decades searching for D.H. Lawrence's sensuous gardener from Lady Chatterley's Lover. After seeing Never Again, I switched to exterminators. Would you believe I'm still searching?
Articles
5 minute read
Laurel Hill's "Cinema in the Cemetery'
This cemetery really comes to life
Give Laurel Hill Cemetery credit for an astute marketing perception: Cemeteries, like horror films, offer a safe, contained and even exciting way to tap into our deepest fears and anxieties.
Articles
3 minute read