When I am dictator of the world, one of the first laws I shall pass will make it illegal for movie studios to keep giving money to filmmakers whose reputation is based solely on the masterpieces they made 20+ years ago. Though this is not a flawless plan (it would have deprived the world of […]
Daniel Dennett once said, “There’s nothing I like less than bad arguments for a view that I hold dear,” which I largely agree with.* At this moment, I think I might refine it a bit, however: there’s nothing I like less than a bad argument for a view that I hold dear, made by a […]
Errol Morris, long one of the most distinctive stylists in the world of documentary filmmaking, has finally done something I never expected him to do: he’s allowed his style to trump all substance, releasing his first unnecessary film. In the past, Morris has made quite a name for himself as a chronicler of the offbeat […]
It’s easy to find faults with Stop-Loss: with the sometimes unconvincing narrative, the frequently bland characterisations, the dumbfounding ending. But here’s why I’m not going to try very hard to dig up those flaws: one character in Stop-Loss says, very angrily, “Fuck the President,” and with 289 days left for one of the most unpopular […]
Throughout the month of March, Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center is presenting a festival of 61 films from the European Union made in the the past couple of years. As time permits, I will be writing short reviews of those films I manage to see at this festival. Director Nick Broomfield’s 25th film in more […]
In one very important way, Taxi to the Dark Side seems like a failure: it isn’t new. Documentarian Alex Gibney (also responsible for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) has gathered together almost every scrap of data he could to recount in literally excruciating detail the US military’s use of torture in our war […]
There’s no way around it – Brian De Palma’s new Iraq film Redacted is a complete mess by just about any conventional measure – but it is also as great a proof as I’ve ever seen that a movie can be a complete wreck and still be totally compelling. In fact, it might well be […]
Robert Redford’s first overtly political film as a director, Lions for Lambs was made with what I am certain were the very best of intentions. We all know what road you can make out of good intentions. It’s a great muddle from the word go: the script, by Matthew Michael Carnahan (who debuted earlier this […]
After much inner struggle, I have to be honest and admit that I really don’t know what to do about The Kingdom. On the one hand, in the moments that work it’s devastating, but I can’t shake the sense that it’s all a little sleazy and exploitative. At its heart, it’s a film about the […]
