This morning, The Atlantic published an article I wrote as part of their online content. It is an analysis of the hypocrisies of the new film, Hyde Park on Hudson, in which I examine the ways the film claims to value the privacy of our elected leaders – while simultaneously exploiting that privacy to make…
There is an old rule in Hollywood: the dog has to live. You can kill hundreds of people in a movie and splatter the screen with human blood, and the audience won’t mind. But get one cute little pooch caught in the crossfire, and it will leave a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth (the…
French actress Marion Cotillard, who was a surprise Oscar-winner for her performance in La Vie En Rose, is receiving more awards buzz for Rust and Bone. It is the kind of role Oscar loves; she plays a whale trainer who has her legs bitten off, and the film details her rehab process which involves an…
Watching Killing Them Softly, one can almost picture the “a-ha” moment when writer/director Andrew Dominik was reading “Cogan’s Trade,” the book on which it is based, and came up with the idea of setting this story during the early days of the 2008 financial collapse. Images and sound bites of George W. Bush and Barack…
Yesterday, a group of AIDS activists made headlines by stripping nude in the office of Speaker John Boehner to protest budget cuts that would impact AIDS research. Their tactics were covered by the mainstream media – which was their goal – but largely treated as a sideshow. Brazen tactics like these, however, have been a…
Life of Pi is a difficult movie to write about because it encompasses so much of the human experience – it covers man’s relationship to himself, his family, his environment, and God – but its perspective on those experiences is elusive. This opacity, however, is not a flaw; on the contrary, it is evidence of…
For many years, director David O. Russell was known for his eccentricity. His films were odd, idiosyncratic comedies such as Flirting with Disaster and I Heart Huckabees, which garnered cult followings but no mainstream success. Then there was the leaked video of Russell throwing a vicious tantrum on the set of Huckabees. Although Lily Tomlin,…
Is actress Ashley Judd running for Senate? Rumors are spreading across the Beltway that she may challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. When asked about a potential run, Judd had this to say: “I cherish Kentucky, heart and soul, and while I’m very honored by the consideration, we have just finished an election,…
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