Asking the Right Questions about “Zero Dark Thirty”

So much has already been written about Zero Dark Thirty, and yet we seem no closer to a consensus on whether the film depicts torture as producing information that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian has argued passionately that the film suggests that it does, and that it…

“Gangster Squad” and Why Winter is the New Summer

In the wake of the shootings last year in Aurora and Newtown, movie violence is under heavier scrutiny than we have seen in years. Many pundits and elected officials have raised the issue as a potential part of the problem of gun violence, but due to Wayne LaPierre’s polarizing press conference, it seems less likely…

“Les Miserables” Offers Lessons for Movie Musicals

The producers of Les Miserables have owned the film rights for decades, and they have stated in recent interviews that they were waiting for the right time and the right director. They got the time right – the film’s themes of economic oppression, income inequality, and a rigged criminal justice system seem tailor-made for our…

Casting Call: Hillary Clinton

Yesterday, Politico reported on a screenplay making the rounds in Hollywood about Hillary Clinton. If production on the script were to begin soon, the film might be released somewhere in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign, which many expect Clinton to be a key participant in. But this is not the story of Clinton’s…

Hollywood Robbery

When considering the lobbying power of the MPAA, the trade group that represents six major Hollywood movie studios, I have often wondered what it is exactly they lobby for, besides the status quo of deregulation and the occasional copyright law. The fiscal cliff deal, passed two days ago, gave us an answer. A careful reading…

2012: The Movies of the Year

The late Gene Siskel once described the job of being a film critic as “covering the national dream beat.” What he meant is that the movies document our collective unconscious. We may go to the movies to escape, but because the movies trade on our fantasies and not our conscious fears and desires, they often…

Justice is Simple in “Django Unchained”

There is a scene early on in Django Unchained in which bounty hunter King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) offers a deal to Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave whom he has just bought. Schlutz, a foreigner, is opposed to slavery, but he needs Django to help him track and kill three men for whom a large bounty…