Super Size Me
Super Size Me is a lively and accessible account of director Morgan Spurlock’s attempt to spend 30 days eating nothing but McDonald’s food—for breakfast, lunch and dinner—while doctors monitor the changes in his vital statistics. It’s an increasingly important topic. As a society, we’ve built a machine that saves us dollars at the cash register but requires us to pay them back in health bills down the road. The movie accomplishes some of its more modest goals: it makes fast food look disgusting, makes the serving sizes seem outrageous and, perhaps most importantly, makes the food programs at many schools... read more
Together
If Bergman was the mid-century Scandinavian voice of conscience—creating dark, powerful films about the human experience in a world where God seems absent... read more
Together
If Bergman was the mid-century Scandinavian voice of conscience—creating dark, powerful films about the human experience in a world where God seems absent... read more
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Common sense dictates that, if your goal is to create a deeply affecting film portrait of latter-day romance, you don’t cast Lloyd Christmas as the male lead... read more
A Slipping-Down Life
In A Slipping-Down Life, adapted from Anne Tyler’s novel of the same name, Lili Taylor plays Evie Decker, a young woman who spends her days dressed as a rabbit... read more
A Slipping-Down Life
In A Slipping-Down Life, adapted from Anne Tyler’s novel of the same name, Lili Taylor plays Evie Decker, a young woman who spends her days dressed as a rabbit... read more
Millennium Mambo
Millennium Mambo is the first movie in director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 25-year career to be distributed theatrically in the U.S., and that’s reason alone to seek it out. It’s the story of Vicky, a modern young woman in Taipei with a little money in the bank and not much to do besides smoke, drink and hang out at clubs with her friends. She bounces between her controlling, on-again-off-again boyfriend Hao-hao and the older, possibly wiser Jack, with occasional detours to a snowy part of Japan. Each of these three locations has a gravitational pull on Vicky, sometimes defying all reason, and... read more
Millennium Mambo
Millennium Mambo is the first movie in director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 25-year career to be distributed theatrically in the U.S., and that’s reason alone to seek it out. It’s the story of Vicky, a modern young woman in Taipei with a little money in the bank and not much to do besides smoke, drink and hang out at clubs with her friends. She bounces between her controlling, on-again-off-again boyfriend Hao-hao and the older, possibly wiser Jack, with occasional detours to a snowy part of Japan. Each of these three locations has a gravitational pull on Vicky, sometimes defying all reason, and... read more
The Lovers on the Bridge (DVD)
The Lovers on the Bridge, a 1991 movie about two homeless people, is unfortunately more famous for its folly than its quality... read more
The Lovers on the Bridge (DVD)
The Lovers on the Bridge, a 1991 movie about two homeless people, is unfortunately more famous for its folly than its quality... read more
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (DVD)
Psychologist Stanley Milgram’s landmark study Obedience To Authority suggested human beings are easily led to do horrible things, especially when a domineering figure is calling the shots. Years earlier, director Fritz Lang came to a similar conclusion with his masterful The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), now available in a fine two-DVD set. By the time Lang made Testament he’d been incorporating the figure of evil authority into many of his films. He contributed to script development for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and went on to explore the theme in Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922), Metropolis (1927) and... read more
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (DVD)
Psychologist Stanley Milgram’s landmark study Obedience To Authority suggested human beings are easily led to do horrible things, especially when a domineering figure is calling the shots. Years earlier, director Fritz Lang came to a similar conclusion with his masterful The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), now available in a fine two-DVD set. By the time Lang made Testament he’d been incorporating the figure of evil authority into many of his films. He contributed to script development for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and went on to explore the theme in Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922), Metropolis (1927) and... read more
3 Women (DVD)
As evidenced by films like M*A*S*H, Nashville, Short Cuts and Gosford Park, Robert Altman has achieved his greatest success with ensemble works that follow intersecting lives around a single event or setting. In 1977 he focused on a more concise character study with 3 Women. The result, perhaps more than any other work, illustrates the filmmaker’s best and worst impulses. On one hand, 3 Women offers memorable characters, an idiosyncratic structure and touches of Altman’s signature style, injecting documentary-style moments into a quirky formal approach. We’re drawn into the story of terminally chatty physical therapist Millie Lammoreoux (Shelley Duvall in... read more
3 Women (DVD)
As evidenced by films like M*A*S*H, Nashville, Short Cuts and Gosford Park, Robert Altman has achieved his greatest success with ensemble works that follow intersecting lives around a single event or setting. In 1977 he focused on a more concise character study with 3 Women. The result, perhaps more than any other work, illustrates the filmmaker’s best and worst impulses. On one hand, 3 Women offers memorable characters, an idiosyncratic structure and touches of Altman’s signature style, injecting documentary-style moments into a quirky formal approach. We’re drawn into the story of terminally chatty physical therapist Millie Lammoreoux (Shelley Duvall in... read more
Decasia: The State of Decay (DVD)
With his non-narrative film trilogy, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi, Godfrey Reggio used documentary-style footage to create a metaphoric wake-up call for humanity, portraying a dangerous global imbalance between nature and civilization. The late Stan Brakhage also eschewed formal storytelling, manipulating the physical medium to make movies about film itself. Bill Morrison’s remarkable Decasia falls somewhere between these approaches. Using remnants of decaying film stock culled from archives, Morrison places images from disparate sources together, combining badly damaged cowboy movies with eroding ethnographic footage of whirling dervishes and carpet weavers. But the original context of the images is not as important... read more
Decasia: The State of Decay (DVD)
With his non-narrative film trilogy, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi, Godfrey Reggio used documentary-style footage to create a metaphoric wake-up call for humanity, portraying a dangerous global imbalance between nature and civilization. The late Stan Brakhage also eschewed formal storytelling, manipulating the physical medium to make movies about film itself. Bill Morrison’s remarkable Decasia falls somewhere between these approaches. Using remnants of decaying film stock culled from archives, Morrison places images from disparate sources together, combining badly damaged cowboy movies with eroding ethnographic footage of whirling dervishes and carpet weavers. But the original context of the images is not as important... read more
Girl With A Pearl Earring
There’s something to be said for a film that’s most sensual moments involve the piercing of an ear and the removal of a bonnet—just a bonnet—from the head of a woman who always dresses in layers... read more
Girl With A Pearl Earring
There’s something to be said for a film that’s most sensual moments involve the piercing of an ear and the removal of a bonnet—just a bonnet—from the head of a woman who always dresses in layers... read more
Japanese Cinematic History
Even if you’ve never viewed Japanese films, you’ve certainly felt their influence. George Lucas, an avid fan of Akira Kurosawa, visited Japan in the 1970s and borrowed liberally from Japanese filmmakers for his forthcoming Star Wars saga... read more
Japanese Cinematic History
Even if you’ve never viewed Japanese films, you’ve certainly felt their influence. George Lucas, an avid fan of Akira Kurosawa, visited Japan in the 1970s and borrowed liberally from Japanese filmmakers for his forthcoming Star Wars saga... read more
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant
The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So…
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 30 Best TV Shows on Netflix…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
