The Hurt Locker (2009), Cultural Politics and Uncritical Critics

Trailer: The Hurt Locker Screening the Politics Out of the Iraq War By David Sterritt, Ph.D. DavidSterritt.com The Hurt Locker, the widely praised movie about American soldiers on a bomb squad in Iraq, has arrived in theaters with enough rave reviews to fill two dozen quote ads. While the film is excellent in some respects, [...]

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

DVD: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Mr. Smith holds up over time better than most of the films shot in the 1980s. This is a “classic,” but that’s not why it’s a top pick on most political film lists. It’s more than a classic; it’s about something real. Jimmy Stewart turns in a tour de [...]

Sicko (2007)

DVD: Sicko Sicko proves beyond a reasonable doubt that America’s health care system is sick, real sick. Moore makes his bid for Universal Health Care, or Single Payer, and shows directly and unequivocally that Cuba’s health care system is superior to our own. Cuba’s health system cared more about our citizens than our own. It [...]

Casablanca (1943) Revisited

DVD: Casablanca Blu-ray: Casablanca Casablanca Revisited By David Macaray With the Motion Picture Academy having recently announced a change in next year’s format (i.e., going from five Best Picture nominees to a whopping ten), it might be useful to revisit the classic 1943 Best Picture winner, “Casablanca,” one of the most celebrated films in Hollywood [...]

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

DVD: The Motorcycle Diaries Brazil’s Bid at a Continental Cinema Walter Salles Jr.’s Motorcycle Diaries in context by Norman Madarasz By awarding Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 the Palme d’Or, the 2004 Cannes Film Festival jury, presided by Quentin Tarentino, only did what was natural at this moment in time for art. It used the film [...]

Cartoon Voices: Serf’s Up in Hollywood

By David Macaray “Hollywood isn’t so much a place, as a state of mindlessness” —John Gregory Dunne Tinsel Town is addicted to “star power.” As evidence, look no further than SAG’s (Screen Actors Guild) latest contract with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), and you’ll see that, while the Alliance is willing [...]

Recount (2008)

DVD: Recount The 2000 election fiasco, and the theft of same, are dramatized in this HBO film starring Kevin Spacey and Laura Dern. Recount does a few things right. It sticks to the historical record pretty tightly. It also includes some revelations that perhaps weren’t known at that moment, but were later revealed to be [...]