Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, The Help chronicles the writing of a book meant to tell the stories of African-American domestics working in the homes of whites.  Based on a popular novel, The Help follows three white […]

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The earliest sound version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Henry Edwards’ brief adaptation Scrooge is nothing if not strange.  Multiple versions exist and this review refers to the 60 minute edit.  Seymour Hicks opens the movie as the grumpiest […]

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Paranoid Park, Gus Van Sant’s adaptation of a youth novel by Blake Nelson, is at its heart a mystery.  A teenaged skater, played by amateur Gabe Nevins, drifts towards the toughest skating park in town, Paranoid Park.  He meets an […]

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Otto Preminger’s adaptation of Allen Drury’s 1959 Pulitzer Prize winning novel is loaded with Hollywood stars.  The film involves a nominee for secretary of state (Henry Fonda) who runs into opposition from a southern senator (Charles Laughton in his final […]

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This is the third film that Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made together and appears to be one of the less remembered.  A romantic comedy by the same playwright who created The Philadelphia Story, Without Love documents a marriage based on […]

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Requiem for a Dream is the film that truly made director Darren Aronofsky’s reputation and was a well-regarded art film when it was released.  A young heroin addict (Jared Leto), his best friend (Marlon Wayans), and his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) […]

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Europa is the conclusion of Lars Von Trier’s Europe trilogy and announced his emergence as a major filmmaker.  The movie begins with Max Von Sydow hypnotizing the audience with a soothing, authoritarian voice over, the first of many signs that […]

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Terrence Malick’s hugely ambitious fifth film is also, amazingly, his best.  It focuses on a family in 1950s Texas and holds them as an embodiment of grace.  Their oldest son, Jack (played by an adult by Sean Penn), has to […]

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Floria Sigismondi’s retelling of the tale of the all-female, all-adolescent rock band The Runaways covers their origin to the time that lead singer Cherie Curie (Dakota Fanning) quits due to…insubordination?  The uncertainty in that summary captures the lack of coherence […]

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A belated sequel to Harper (1966), The Drowning Pool finds private eye Harper (Paul Newman) in New Orleans on another complex case instigated by a woman.  Initially, he is investigating infidelity, but soon there are murders and family problems that […]

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