Tag Archives: drama

NYFF 2011: Shame: Adrift in the City That Never Sleeps

This review originally appeared on Capital New York. “We’re not bad people, we just come from a bad place,” says Sissy (Carey Mulligan) to her brother Brandon (Michael Fassbender). That “bad place” is never made explicit in Steve McQueen’s latest … Continue reading

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Review: The Ides of March (2011)

This review was originally published on Capital New York. American politics can be a dirty business. For whom is this a surprise? So-called upright men who declare themselves our leaders have been found in all kinds of compromising undignified positions, … Continue reading

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NYFF 2011: Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation

Originally published at Capital New York, for my coverage of the 2011 New York Film Festival The events in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, unfold with chaos and yet inevitability, … Continue reading

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NYFF 2011: Carnage, Roman Polanski’s Latest. Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

This review originally appeared on Capital New York. A privileged existence leads to guilt, and guilt leads to savage behavior. This is the obvious message in Roman Polanski’s Carnage (an adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s hit Broadway play God of Carnage), … Continue reading

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NYFF 2011: The Turin Horse: Damn, That Horse is Depressed

This article originally appeared on Capital New York. In 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche witnessed the beating of a horse on the streets of Turin. He threw his arms around the horse’s neck, sobbing, and then lost consciousness. He had a mental … Continue reading

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Contagion (2011): The Pandemic Is Coming. Are You Ready?

This review originally appeared o Capital New York. Two people in Hazmat suits stand over a mass grave in a vacant lot in Minneapolis. There is snow on the ground. The city has run out of body bags, so the … Continue reading

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The Help (2011): I’d Like To Hear Mammy’s Side Of the Story

This review originally appeared on Capital New York. “But we ain’t doing civil rights here,” protests Aibileen, an African-American maid in Tate Taylor’s The Help, based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. The … Continue reading

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The Make-Believe of the Moment

In the theatre, where things play out in real-time, a scene may begin with a happy wedding and end in tragic bloodshed. A calm morning breakfast is shattered by the arrival of a telegram. The actors know that at the … Continue reading

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Long Island Melancholy Set to Blue Öyster Cult Tunes: Roadie

This review appeared originally on Capital New York. Jimmy Testagross in Michael Cuesta’s Roadie is in his 40s and he has never made a pot of coffee. He does not know how to fold laundry. He crashes on his friends’ … Continue reading

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February 21 – 27: Iranian Film Blogathon

**ANNOUNCEMENT** A good friend of mine died unexpectedly this week, on Wednesday. His wake is tomorrow, and the funeral is Monday, so I will not be available to receive any more Word docs from those of you out there who … Continue reading

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