Spike Lee Brings the Old Heat to “Red Hook Summer”

With “Red Hook Summer,” it is clear that Spike Lee is back. Back in Brooklyn, back in the sweltering summer heat, back with stories about black America that no one else is telling. “Red Hook Summer” is not a perfect film, not by any means. But it does what we used to expect a Spike…

“Margaret” Deserves an Audience

“It is the blight man was born for.  It is Margaret that you mourn for.” – from “Margaret, Are You Grieving,” a poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins “Margaret,” the sophomore effort from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan, is a film about New York, a city with 8 million stories. So it is only fitting that “Margaret” arrived…

“Why Stop Now” Never Really Gets Going

There is a good movie somewhere inside of “Why Stop Now,” which opens today in select theaters, but it suffers from tonal inconsistencies and a series of implausible plot points that make it impossible to suspend one’s disbelief. To put it succinctly, it suffers from common failures of first-time filmmakers. Let’s start with the opening…

Will Ferrell: Liberal Folk Hero

There is a certain kind of comedian – the best kind, really – who is more  truth-teller than entertainer. We laugh with them because they so perfectly capture with words what the constraints of polite society keep us from saying and sometimes even thinking. A short, incomplete list of these comedians would include Will Rogers,…

“The Campaign” Brings Modern Insight to a Familiar Story

“The Campaign,” the new election-season comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, does exactly what you expect it to. It delivers big, raunchy laughs, while offering soft satire of the American political system. It is the rare political comedy that will play in both DC and Peoria. The film succeeds the most when it lampoons…