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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
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- Dave on Review: The Chronology of Water (2025)
- Biff Dorsey on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Hamlet
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Tag Archives: drama
Ebert Fest 2013: Patrick Wang’s In the Family
Roger Ebert ended his review of Patrick Wang’s In the Family with these words: What a courageous first feature this is, a film that sidesteps shopworn stereotypes and tells a quiet, firm, deeply humanist story about doing the right thing. … Continue reading
Rupert Pupkin Haunts Me Still: The Restored The King of Comedy
This review originally appeared on Capital New York. It’s been 30 years since Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy was released, with its bleak tale of fan obsession, celebrity worship, and rampant self-delusion. While it does not share the status … Continue reading
12:08 East of Bucharest; Dir. Corneliu Porumboiu
Mircea Andreescu, Teodor Corban, Ion Sapdaru, “12:08 East of Bucharest” Don’t let the unwieldy title put you off. And don’t let the fact that the film is about the revolutionary events of Dec. 22, 1989 in Romania, when Communism finally … Continue reading
Beyond the Hills (2012); Dir. Cristian Mungiu
Loosely based on true events (very loosely), Beyond the Hills, the latest from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, tells the story of an isolated windswept snowswept monastery in Romania where an exorcism goes horribly wrong. I suppose any exorcism could already … Continue reading
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000); Dir. Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies is 2 hours and 25 minutes long and has only 39 shots. It is an extraordinary accomplishment, and difficult to describe. There were times, during this or that shot, when I found myself thinking, “How on … Continue reading
Take Shelter (2011); Dir. Jeff Nichols
The dreams come regularly now. They start with a storm, a gigantic ominous storm, with towering dramatic clouds. Rain falls from the sky, but it has more density than water, and the drops clump up on the hands like sticky … Continue reading
Review: Barbara (2012); Dir. Christian Petzold
Roger Ebert has asked me to write for him, which is very exciting! Here’s my first piece: on German director Christian Petzold’s suspenseful film Barbara, about a doctor in 1980s, East Germany. It’s a fine film.
“I’m in trouble, y’see?”
Gena Rowlands, in “Opening Night” That movie is “my heart”. Conversation at a party with five wonderful gentlemen.
Yella (2007); Dir. Christian Petzold
I hesitate to say too much about the plot of Yella, the psychological/corporate-business thriller directed by German director Christian Petzold, because so much of the film’s effectiveness and tension comes from watching events unfold. I didn’t know much about Yella, … Continue reading
Man of Marble (1977); Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Agnieszka (Krystyna Janda), a young woman in 1970s Krakow, wants to make her thesis film on a famous bricklayer and Communist hero named Birkut, whose rise and fall occurred in 1950s Poland. Birkut was celebrated in song and poetry, with … Continue reading