Louis Malle's directorial debut at age t25, a craftsmanly thriller about a pair of illicit lovers and homicidal co-conspirators — never seen together on screen — whose Perfect Crime deflates into a suffocating nightmare. Atmospheric photography by Henri Decae; voguish improvisatory jazz score by Miles Davis. Originally released in the …
Will Ferrell as a human raised by elves, leaving the womb of Santa's Workshop in full adulthood to track down his biological father, a bottom-line publisher of Kiddie Lit ("He's on the naughty list"). Directed by Jon Favreau, the film wants to play both sides of the street — to …
Will Ferrell as a human raised by elves, leaving the womb of Santa's Workshop in full adulthood to track down his biological father, a bottom-line publisher of Kiddie Lit ("He's on the naughty list"). Directed by Jon Favreau, the film wants to play both sides of the street — to …
In 1974 Los Angeles, Brazilian singer Elis Regina and Tom Jobim, the father of bossa nova, meet to record what would become one of the most iconic albums in the history of Brazilian music. Through rare and unseen images, the conflict and joy of this moment is revealed.
A good soldier used to leading his team of supercops against Rio de Janeiro’s worst offenders gets kicked upstairs. Suddenly, a man used to following orders and accomplishing his mission must wrestle with why the orders are being given and who benefits from them. A satisfying, sometimes thrilling mix of …
Historical costume drama, stronger on the costumes than on the history or drama. Those two elements come down to a kind of Late Renaissance Godfather, in which a feminist-revisionist Elizabeth I is installed in the part of Michael Corleone, evolving from a frolicsome carefree girl (no virgin, she) into a …
Cate Blanchett, or a bloodless marmoreal likeness of her, resumes her role from the nine-years-earlier Elizabeth, under the same director, Shekhar Kapur, for a collection of the Virgin Queen's greatest hits: Mary, Queen of Scots; Sir Walter Raleigh; and, in a madly cross-cutting climax, the Spanish Armada, dispatched by the …
There is always something a little embarrassing about a Cameron Crowe film, stemming mainly from the impression that he is trying too hard to ingratiate himself. Yet there is often something actually ingratiating as well, stemming paradoxically from how hard he tries. This one has plenty of both types of …
A fairy-tale kingdom -- elves, ogres, giants, fairy godmothers -- sprinkled with modern anachronisms in the manner of a latter-day Disney cartoon. Anne Hathaway is game enough as a Cinderella blessed, or cursed, at birth by the "gift" of obedience, requiring her to acquiesce to any statement in the imperative …
In one seemingly simple sentence, musician Laura Mvula concisely sums up the everlasting appeal of Ella Fitzgerald: “She made it seem like anything is possible.” Norma Miller was in the audience the night Fitzgerald made her debut at the Apollo Theatre, and she laughs at the memory of booing the …
Death Wish for the art house set as the generally dependable Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Fruit, Starship Troopers) returns after a four-year absence with a redundant rape fulfillment fantasy. The immutable CEO (and daughter of a celebrated mass murderer) responsible for a successful string of violent, sexually oriented video games becomes …