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| Richard Von Busack's Articles: 1 to 10 of 116 | Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next Page |
 | Woody Harrelson delivers bad news in new drama about the impact of Iraq on the homefront WOODY HARRELSON may be the John Wayne our war in Iraq deserves. If Harrelson’s newest, [i]The Messenger[/i], seems to run off the rails, it may have been intended to be the kind of movie that wasn’t supposed to be on the rails in the first place. Here is an effort to make a small-camera movie about the Iraq war veterans trying to cope with the sorrow and wrathMore |  | A tale of abuse and redemption features fine acting and simplistic judgments SHAKESPEARE may have been wrong when he wrote that the world is a tragedy to those who think and a comedy to those who feel. Peruse the public reaction to the much-laureated [i]Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire[/i], and it appears to be the other way around. Lee Daniels’ tragedy, which won double awards at Sundance, seems to be elevated to the status of something special by its noteworthy acting.More |  | Playwright Philip Grecian talks about adapting 'A Christmas Story' for San Jose Repertory Theatre BING CROSBY could have put it all in a Christmas song: the rifle that’ll shoot your eye out, the Nehi lamp and the clinker-filled coalscuttle. Bob Clark’s 1983 film of [i]A Christmas Story[/i], through 24-hour screenings on cable, has become essential to the holiday. The stage adaptation at San Jose Repertory Theatre, which starts previews this week, takes different angles on Jean Shepherd’s comedic memoir, with Rep stalwart Dan Hiatt as the adult Ralphie.More |  | A comedy about rebellious ’60S DJs is all wet DISMISSING [i]Pirate Radio[/i] as a bad film made by bad people is shirking responsibility. It’s an easy shot to describe it as a sinking ship—[i]Pirate Radio[/i] tries to top the ending of [i]Titanic[/i] with a new Miracle of Dunkirk. But [i]Pirate Radio[/i] is handily the worst movie of the year, and that alone gives it some stature, some worthiness of dissection.More |  | New comedy '(Untitled)' skewers Manhattan art scene This very witty parody of the Manhattan art world boasts a cast of frauds, surrounding one serious but surly artist, Adrian (Adam Goldberg), a composer of dissonant music who gripes that “harmony was just a capitalist plot to sell pianos.”More |  | L.A. gets what's coming to it in disaster epic. L.A. wobbling on all sides of a mile-deep fissure in the earth, the skyscrapers dancing around its brink or keeling over in slow faints. A stretch limo scoots around these twisting monoliths trying to get to a comfortable cruising altitude; meanwhile, the unquiet earth rises up on both sides of the escarpment until it’s a crescent-shaped motif. Then, the UNESCO World Heritage Site (What? It isn’t? What the hell is up with that?) concrete advertising sign of Randy’s Donuts wheels through the chaos, as if inviting the car to take the proverbial flying you know what at a rolling donut.More |  | Is there anything Lars von Tried won't put on screen? THE MOST prestigious gross-out since Irreversible, Lars von Trier's Antichrist is billed as a director's return to instinctive filmmaking. Von Trier's "Your guess is as good as mine" approach includes comments such as "I let this film flow to me instead of thinking it up."More |  | A Lifetime of Filmmaking [b]The Beaches of Agnès[/b] embodies fearless cinema, full of charming and fascinating stories.More |  | Hilary Swank takes off in biopic IF THE Bible and all world religions didn't prohibit unmanly weeping, Joni Mitchell's tune "Amelia" would probably have me sniveling every time. By contrast, the Hilary Swank–starring, Mira Nair–directed biopic Amelia didn't even get me to the verge of red-eye. If there ever was a figure who deserved a postmodern bio, it's Amelia Earhart, who left so many questions behind.More |  | French director Agnes Varda looks back at a life in flim AGNÈS VARDA opens her documentary [i]The Beaches of Agnès[/i] with the comment “I’m playing the role of a little old lady.” On a beach, she sets up cameras and ornately framed antique mirrors. Her children and grandchildren help her change the looking-glass angles to see themselves, Varda and the cameras behind her. These children look slightly apprehensive: What will this eccentric demand of them next?More |
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