The Good German, directed by Stephen Soderbergh, is a retro black & white spy thriller that could have been made fifty years ago, as the story takes place in 1945, and there is considerable filmreel footage of postwar Berlin and the Potsdam Conference, though nearly all sets are found in a studio backlot. The four-power […]

Fearless, directed by Ronnie Yu, is a biopic about legendary Huo Yuanjia (played by Jet Li), who was primarily responsible for the revival of Chinese martial arts in the beginning of the twentieth century. The film, entitled Huo Yuanjia in China, begins in 1910, when a contest is underway between Huo and four top pugilists from the

  The Thai film Ghost Game (La Tha Phee), directed by Sarawut Wichiansarn, has evoked controversy in Cambodia for dredging up a strange representation of the horrific Tuol Sleng, the interrogation-torture center used by the Pol Pot regime in Phnom Penh during the late 1970s that processed 15,000 prisoners, of which only six persons survived torture.

FAQs, directed by Everett Lewis, is a low-budget effort to deal with homophobia. At the beginning, while the title FAQs morphs into FAGs and back again, there is an extended quote from the homophobic 2004 Texas Republican Party platform. Next, India (played by Joe Lia) is lying on bed awaiting someone to join him in

Freedomland, directed by Joe Roth, is a combination of Crash (2005) and The Forgotten (2004) in which racial tensions erupt while a mother is suffering from posttraumatic stress over the loss of her child. The two themes, however, are credible only up to a point. First, single mom Brenda Martin (played by Julianne Moore) is walking to a hospital

Dreamgirls, directed by Bill Condon, is a film of a 1981 Broadway musical that roughly seeks to portray the rise of pop music within the African American community in Detroit, though with entirely original music. The story, loosely based on the rise of the Supremes, shows the seamier side of the music business. When the

The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, is a cops-and-robbers story about organized crime in Boston. An elite unit, commanded by Captain Ellerby (played by Alec Baldwin), has a new recruit, Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon), who plays a key role in the unit but is a mole reporting to crime boss Frank Costello (played

Release of The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard, has been preceded by a lot of hype. The plot, which is based on Dan Brown’s silly best seller, has prompted the Vatican to protest far too loudly. Scribbling on Leonardo’s painting The Last Supper, detected with blacklights, leads the principals Professor Robert Langdon (played by

Edmond, directed by Stuart Gordon, is based on a play by David Mamet that was first performed in the early 1980s. The plot centers on an Everyman named Edmond Burke (played by William H. Macy, the Everyman in Focus (2001) who defied public prejudices to stand up for decency). Edmond‘s Everyman, who has been politically correct during his

Changing Times (Les temps qui changent), directed by André Téchiné, is a French film about unrequited romances. Some thirty years earlier, Antoine Lavau (played by Gérard Depardieu) and Cécile (played by Catherine Deneuve) fell in love, enjoyed each other sexually, but somehow did not marry. Antoine went on to become a successful builder, whereas Cécile’s