Paul Thomas Anderson’s Cult of Personality

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Sep 18, 2012 The critics simply have too much invested in the still young director to acknowledge that "The Master" has to rank somewhere between a disappointment and a disaster. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The ‘Dark Knight’: 3 Hours of Apathy

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Jul 23, 2012 We want it to be good. We certainly don't want it to be the occasion for tragedy. What we are forced to settle for, though, is aimlessness. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Truthdig in the Running for 6 L.A. Press Club Awards

Staff / Truthdig May 23, 2012 Truthdig is a finalist for six Los Angeles Press Club awards, with special recognition for the site as a whole, the Ear to the Ground blog, Robert Scheer, Chris Hedges, Richard Schickel and Mr Fish. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Good-Natured Dictator

Richard Schickel / Truthdig May 21, 2012 No movie dedicated to Kim Jong Il can be all bad. On the other hand, "The Dictator," the product of Sacha Baron Cohen, cannot be all good either. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘Monsieur Lazhar’: Tragedy and Humanity

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Apr 13, 2012 At its best, "Monsieur Lazhar" is something very rare in film: a study in self-containment. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘Bully’: Zooming In on Childhood Demons

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Apr 2, 2012 Is bullying on the rise in schools around the country? I don’t know You don’t know And, most important, Lee Hirsch, director of the documentary “Bully,” doesn’t seem to know either Is bullying on the rise in schools around the country? I don’t know . Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Filmmaker, Incarcerated

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Mar 6, 2012 One of the incidental lessons "This Is Not a Film" teaches is that a film is not a film until it is a film. You can talk about it, outline it, enthuse over it, but it is still just hot air until sets are built, actors engage, cameras roll. And that is what's most touching about this movie. Jafar Panahi is a well-known Iranian filmmaker who has been sentenced to six years in jail and a 20-year ban on making movies (or even talking about them to the press). Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Best (and the Rest) of 2011

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Jan 7, 2012 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"]Sorry about this—a 10-best list dragging along in the wake of all the others, which began appearing around Halloween [Above, Werner Herzog, director of "Into the Abyss"]. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

A ‘War Horse’ and His Boy

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Dec 24, 2011 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 . Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The ‘Girl’ Is Good, but Why Bother?

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Dec 21, 2011 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.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. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ … Clunker

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Dec 10, 2011 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. There’s a mole in the soup. Or, more properly, “The Circus,” as John le Carré has always been pleased to call the British secret service. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘The Descendants’: Clooney Goes Down Easy

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Nov 18, 2011 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.“The Descendants” is the work of director Alexander Payne, the gentle giant of nice-guy filmmaking (“Sideways,” “About Schmidt”), and, as before, he is not about winding his stories tight and tense. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )