Roberto Rossellini’s “Germany Year Zero” is a frightening portrait of post-WWII Berlin, from the point of view of 12-year-old Edmund, who lives with his family in terrible conditions. The war may have ended, Hitler’s third Reich has fallen, but Berlin has never been more miserable. Edmund’s only concern […]
People always mention “Metropolis” and “M” when they talk about German filmmaker Fritz Lang. While they’re both terrific, I personally vouch for “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse”, one of the best movies of the early talkies. Made in 1933, at a time when Nazism was on the rise, […]
Dull follow-up to “Paris Je T’aime” and “New York I Love You” offers a range of episodes set in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janero, mostly dealing with encounter of love in a different neighborhood of the city. Most of them are slight and boring; these vignettes about […]
Jim Jarmusch (“Mystery Train”, “Dead Man”) is a smart filmmaker, and his new movie is so original, that I wish I liked it more. I was fascinated by its premise at first, about two vampires (Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton) who’s been in love for centuries. For reasons […]
Depending on your reaction to the cinematic outrages perpetrated by Danish director Lars Von Trier (remember Antichrist?), you might want to add or subtract two from the rating I just gave “Nymphomaniac”. It seems that Van Trier enjoys courting controversy, and some of his films are deliberately designed […]
Embarrassingly bad drama set in Western Australia, where two best friends (Naomi Watts and Robin Wright) hook up with each other’s sons (say what?). Wright’s boy, Ian (Xavier Samuel), gets Watts in the sack first. Then Watts, angry as hell, thinks it’s only right to have sex with Wright’s […]
A powerful and thought provoking drama is rare during summer season. That’s what makes “The Hunt” so special, and I hope moviegoers will find their way to see it. It’s one of the year’s best films. Danish writer-director Thomas Vinterberg aims to shock his audience by telling the story […]
“3096 Days” is the true story of Natascha Kampusch, the 10 year old Austrian girl who was snatched off the street by a stranger in 1998. Her kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil shut her in an underground room beneath his garage, telling her that the doors and windows were booby trapped and […]
This year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary is the incredible story of a Mexican- American songwriter called Rodriguez, who failed miserably in America in the early 70’s but became a pop culture icon in South Africa where he found a huge audience. The sad thing is that Rodriguez […]
Can I tell you how thrilled I am that I got to see this movie? Part of the response comes from the excitement of discovery: a writer-director from Saudi Arabia,Haifaa Al Mansour, making her feature debut, and creating a movie that is both entertaining and thought provoking. The hype-meisters of moviedom […]
