Reviews

Inglourious Basterds

September 24, 2009

“Inglourious Basterds.” Quentin Tarantino, director. Weinstein/Universal, 152 minutes. In one of his early, low-budget films, Alfred Hitchcock cast himself in two minor roles to avoid paying an extra actor, and a tradition was born. His famous walk-ons continued in almost every film, first because he superstitiously believed it contributed to his success, and later as [...]

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Julie & Julia

September 24, 2009

“Julie & Julia.” Nora Ephron, director. Columbia Pictures, 123 minutes. “Julie & Julia” is two stories in one, both of them true. In 2002 Julie Powell (Amy Adams) was in a funk, working for an insurance company dealing with survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and looking for something meaningful to do with her life [...]

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My Sister’s Keeper

September 24, 2009

“My Sister’s Keeper.” Nick Cassavetes, director. Curmudgeon Films, 109 minutes. After Cain kills his brother Abel in a fit of rage, God asks him where his brother is (as if God didn’t already know…). Cain’s response has sparked debate and influenced public policy for millennia: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Good question. Are we responsible [...]

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God of Carnage

July 1, 2009

“God of Carnage.” Yasmina Reza, playwright. Matthew Warchus director. Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, Broadway. Yasmina Reza is a French playwright whose works transcend barriers of language and culture to reveal the core of human relationships. She has a gift for lifting the rock of good-mannered stoicism to reveal the baser human emotions squirming just below [...]

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Drag Me to Hell (well, not literally)

June 24, 2009

“Drag Me to Hell,” directed by Sam Raimi. Buckaroo Entertainment, 2009, 99 minutes. I confess to a lifelong love of horror movies–the good old-fashioned kind that tingle the spine with dread, without resorting to gratuitous gore. A truly great suspense film can terrify audiences without a single drop of blood being shed. I haven’t seen [...]

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The Taking of Pelham 123

June 21, 2009

“The Taking of Pelham 123.” Tony Scott, director. Sony Pictures, 121 minutes. Rated R for language and violence. In 1994 a quiet, unassuming, former computer systems analyst for a large investment firm built several gasoline bombs out of mayonnaise jars and alarm clock timers, intending to deposit them in subway trains around New York City [...]

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Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit

June 20, 2009

“Blithe Spirit.” Noel Coward, playwright. Michael Blakemore, director. Shubert Theater, Broadway. Here’s one of my immutable rules of theater enjoyment: If there’s a play by George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, or Noel Coward in production, don’t miss it. Wilde and Shaw virtually invented the drawing room “comedy of manners” that exposed hypocrisy and boorishness among [...]

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The Brothers Bloom

June 15, 2009

School’s out for summer, and teen comedies abound. Most of them are trite, raunchy, potty-mouthed, formulaic– and immensely successful. “The Hangover” is one of them. Its big-budget advertising throughout the spring made it look clever and entertaining, and its 80% approval rating on rottentomatoes gave it an air of respectability from the critics. Largely a [...]

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Waiting for Godot

June 4, 2009

“Waiting for Godot.” Samuel Beckett, playwright. Anthony Page, director. Studio 54, Broadway. “Waiting for Godot,” Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece of existential angst, opened at Studio 54 on Broadway this spring with a sparkling cast and towering set. The script, about two men waiting on a dreary road for someone named Godot to come, is deliberately spare, [...]

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The Soloist

May 31, 2009

“The Soloist.” Joe Wright, director. Dreamworks, 117 minutes. “The Soloist” begins the way “State of Play” ends: opening credits roll as newspapers are printed, bundled and delivered. The papers are a blur of color as they whiz through the machinery, a tribute to the pressmen who invented the processes that have sped up delivery of [...]

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