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

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Nov 9, 2011 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?Even by Clint Eastwood's austere standards, "J. Edgar" is a very plain movie. And all the more powerful being so. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Missing From ‘March’

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Oct 11, 2011 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. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Sad, Secret Life of a Spy

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Oct 3, 2011 A fascinating new documentary seeks to unravel the mysteries of William Colby, or, as the title would have it, “The Man Nobody Knew."A fascinating new documentary seeks to unravel the mysteries of, as the title would have it, “The Man Nobody Knew." Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

‘Moneyball’ Isn’t a Home Run

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Sep 26, 2011 "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. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Reconciling ‘The Help’ With the History

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Aug 15, 2011 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. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Sex Slavery and Impotent Outrage

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Aug 7, 2011 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. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘Tabloid’: Errol Morris’ Lunatic Love Story

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Jul 16, 2011 Morris' film has a giddy quality. But, essentially, he is trying to keep a straight face amid the chaos he is recounting. Come right down to it, what could a filmmaker add to this story by striking attitudes toward the events he recounts? Strange are the ways of love—not to say, in some cases, totally weird. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Animal Harm

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Jul 12, 2011 We have witnessed, in this film, a prolonged study in animal abuse I think Terrace is the worst kind of sadist—the unknowing kind—and I think this very good film provides a record of “science” at its most useless . Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Revisiting the Horror of Nanking

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Jun 18, 2011 “City of Life and Death,” by the Chinese writer-director Lu Chuan, is the second film about Nanking, and it is a work that aspires to the definitive and almost achieves that status.Little as I wish to say it, “City of Life and Death” needs to be more brutal than it is. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

‘The Tree of Life’: Terrence Malick Syndrome Strikes Again

Richard Schickel / Truthdig May 29, 2011 This will not do—either as philosophy or as the conclusion of a picture that has wasted close to two and half hours of our time with its twaddling pretenses. But it is not quite the end of our concern with it. I think of it as the “Hiroshima Mon Amour” scam. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Herzog Lights Up ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’

Richard Schickel / Truthdig May 4, 2011 What I’m saying is that Herzog is a director whose work is never to be missed, for the simple reason that he takes you places—especially in his documentaries—that no other director thinks of going.Werner Herzog is cinema’s great poet of the extremes—of climate, of geography and, of course, of human behavior. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Their ‘Perestroika’

Richard Schickel / Truthdig Mar 26, 2011 Democracy is ever a fragile thing, especially in states that have no tradition of democratic rule and have, instead, a tradition of self-serving rule by self-appointed and often brutal elites.In “My Perestroika,” Russians reflect on the changes they have witnessed since the early 1980s, when "restructuring" began to reshape their lives. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )