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DID SPAIN CONQUER MÉXICO SPIRITUALLY? Credits at the end of the Mexican film The Other Conquest (La Otra Conquista) tell us that the movie is about events during the first years of the Spanish conquest of México—from the arrival of Don Hernán Cortés (1519) to the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe (1531). Written and […]

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT STEREOTYPES ARABS—AND AMERICANS, TOO The imperatives of foreign policy clash with the desires for justice in Rules of Engagement, directed by William Friedkin from a story by former Navy Secretary James Webb, whose nostalgia for the Cold War appears unquenched. In 1968, during a battle in a Vietnamese jungle, Terry L. Childers

THE SKULLS WARNS THAT YALE MAY RULE AMERICA Who runs America? Although academic answers to this question vary from a power elite of some sort to a large set of organized interests who check one another, Hollywood’s frequent answer has consistently been that a secret clique runs the country. In The Skulls, we learn from

ERIN BROCKOVICH IS NOMINATED FOR TWO AWARDS Before Erin Brockovich begins, a title tells us that the film is based on a true story. The movie, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by transparently feminist Susannah Grant, focuses on numbers, though the tagline is “She brought a small town to its feet and a huge

FOUR FILMS WIN AWARDS The Board of Directors of the Political Film Society met at 8481 Allenwood Road, Los Angeles, on March 4 at 7:00 p.m. and counted ballots to determine which films of 1999 were voted the best political films by members of the Society.  The winners are as follows: DEMOCRACY                     The Insider EXPOSÉ                             

THE CIDER HOUSE RULES FOCUSES ON UNWANTED CHILDREN The fate of unwanted children is usually left out of debates on abortion. Not so in The Cider House Rules, directed by Lasse Hallström. The film takes place in the 1940s, beginning at an orphanage in St. Clouds, Maine, where illegitimate children live until infertile couples arrive

OFFICIAL BALLOT (FOR MEMBERS ONLY) Now is the time for members to vote for the best political films of 1999. Mark an X in the “YES” box of the film(s) that you believe best promotes political consciousness in each of four categories, but check no more than 4 “YES” votes. If you feel strongly that

THE HURRICANE RECEIVES THE FIRST POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY NOMINATION FOR 2000 Thanks to two Northwestern University professors, a substantial number of men have been released from death row in Illinois because they were wrongfully convicted. In The Hurricane, director Norman Jewison brings to the screen the book Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Untold Story of

NOMINATIONS CLOSE FOR POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY AWARDS During 1999, some 28 films were nominated for Political Film Society awards, having raised political consciousness in all four categories. Rules of the Political Film Society require that the number of nominations for any category, prior to a final vote, cannot exceed five. The number of nominated films

ONE WEEK LEFT TO NOMINATE FILMS FOR 1999 POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY AWARDS Since the Political Film Society moved to Hollywood, the number of eligible films has increased considerably in 1999—a record 28 nominations have been made during the year. The rule governing nominations requires that a film must be exhibited for at least one week