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February 16, 2012
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FILM REVIEW

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imdb.com

‘Crazy Horse’: A Study in Erotic Abstraction

The cabaret’s women are half-naked so much of the time that they are, as it were, clothed in their own nudity. More significantly, I think, the show often presents them very abstractly. In particular, the lighting presents this or that aspect of their bodies in such a way that they lose all particularity. They are not, in these representations, “women,” but are “woman.”

Posted on Feb 9, 2012 11 COMMENTS



imdb.com

The Best (and the Rest) of 2011

Sorry about this—a 10-best list dragging along in the wake of all the others, which began appearing around Halloween. And it isn’t even a nice round 10 in number. I could come up with only six movies this year. I have my excuses. [Pictured above, Werner Herzog, director of “Into the Abyss.”]

Posted on Jan 6, 2012 12 COMMENTS



imdb.com

A ‘War Horse’ and His Boy

Boy gets horse. Boy loses horse. Boy (after many adventures, especially by the horse) is reunited with the animal. In terms of narrative, that’s all there is to “War Horse”—except to say that Steven Spielberg’s film is a lovely and touching movie, representing, among other things, a vast improvement on the extraordinarily successful novel and stage play.

Posted on Dec 24, 2011 19 COMMENTS



imdb.com

The ‘Girl’ Is Good, but Why Bother?

Here’s a paradox I’ve never encountered in several decades of movie reviewing: a perfectly well-made film that there is absolutely no compelling reason to rush right out and see—especially if you’ve been paying attention to recent developments in popular culture.

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 20 COMMENTS



imdb.com

‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ … Clunker

Under Tomas Alfredson’s leaden direction, the film, which is set in the 1970s when the Cold War was at its height, consists mainly of guys enigmatically sipping whiskey, smoking cigarettes and exchanging meaningful stares.

Posted on Dec 9, 2011 12 COMMENTS



imdb.com

‘Hugo’: Resistance Is Futile

I was prepared to dislike “Hugo,” sight unseen—wretched excess and all that—so you can imagine my surprise (and your own, when, as you inevitably must, you catch up with it) when I found myself utterly captivated by Martin Scorsese’s film.

Posted on Dec 5, 2011 7 COMMENTS



imdb.com

Movies About the Movies: ‘Marilyn’ Charms, ‘The Artist’ Bombs

Basically, I love movies about moviemaking. And basically, Hollywood loves making these movies. They have been a well-established genre since Chaplin was a pup. And a pretty good genre it is—there’s nothing like self-regard to bring out the feverish in people.

Posted on Nov 25, 2011 16 COMMENTS



imdb.com

‘The Descendants’: Clooney Goes Down Easy

We exist today in a climate of movie extremes—extreme action, extreme comedy. There are not many mild, agreeable pictures that take place in pleasant surroundings and set people we can identify with to dealing with issues that at sometime or other all of us will have to engage.

Posted on Nov 18, 2011 6 COMMENTS



imdb.com

‘J. Edgar’: Hoover’s Hubris Writ Large

This is a brave film. There was a time when J. Edgar Hoover was among the most prominent Americans and there was no way to make a reasonably honest movie about him. Now there is a tendency to ask, J. Edgar Who?

Posted on Nov 9, 2011 20 COMMENTS



Facebook/IdesOfMarchMovie

Missing From ‘March’

George Clooney is the nominal star (and director) of “The Ides of March,” a not particularly thrilling, but sort of agreeable, political thriller, in which he is largely AWOL.

Posted on Oct 10, 2011 6 COMMENTS



The Man Nobody Knew

The Sad, Secret Life of a Spy

A fascinating new documentary seeks to unravel the mysteries of William Colby, or, as the title would have it, “The Man Nobody Knew.”

Posted on Oct 2, 2011 10 COMMENTS



Sony Pictures

‘Moneyball’ Isn’t a Home Run

“Moneyball” is a good story and people who have little interest in baseball don’t need to fear it. On the other hand, it has its largely overlooked problems.

Posted on Sep 26, 2011 6 COMMENTS



Facebook.com / BrightonRockMovie

A Graham Greene Classic Better Left Alone

The original “Brighton Rock” is so good—in its dank and sometimes almost unwatchable way—that it obviates a remake. But that never stopped anyone, did it?

Posted on Aug 28, 2011 8 COMMENTS



thehelpmovie.com

Reconciling ‘The Help’ With the History

There has to be a lingering suspicion (and hatred) that “The Help” cannot bear to contemplate. It wants us to believe that all involved learned their costly lessons in the Mississippi of 50 years ago.

Posted on Aug 14, 2011 30 COMMENTS



First Generation Films via IMDb

Sex Slavery and Impotent Outrage

In the summer, when we are always in the mood for fun and frolic, “The Whistleblower” is an easy movie to ignore. But we should not.

Posted on Aug 7, 2011 27 COMMENTS


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A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
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