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Movies / TV

Ethan Hawke, left, and Julie Delpy arrive at the LA premiere of "Before Midnight" at the Director's Guild of America's Theatre on tuesday, May 21, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

‘Before Midnight’: A Very Long Conversation Has Its Moments

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Richard Linklater made his name in 1991 with Slacker, a low-key, discursive ramble through Austin that introduced a new generation and spontaneous form of filmmaking that concealed surprising intelligence and artfulness beneath its laid-back style. Linklater has gone on to pursue a wonderfully eclectic career, hopping from sci-fi animation ( Waking Life ) to family-friendly comedies ( School of Rock …

A Saintly Superman Comes to Save a Fallen Planet

Saturday, June 15, 2013

A colleague of mine made the astute observation that superhero blockbusters have something in common with medieval religious art. Both rely on rigidly fixed iconographies drawn from a narrow range of canonical subject matter. The individual creator may vary the style, but the terms of the representation are governed by a larger divine or quasi-divine cosmic order: hence the endless variations on the …

Superman Still Super, After All These Years

Friday, June 14, 2013

Seventy-five years after he sprang from the imaginations of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman is making another visit to movie screens, in Man of Steel, with Henry Cavill playing the superhero. Coupled with the anniversary of the character’s first comic-book appearance in 1938, the movie at once aims to generate new interest …

‘Epic’: A World’s Huge Problems

Saturday, May 25, 2013

In calling itself Epic the new CGI adventure based on children’s author and illustrator William Joyce’s The Leaf Men might be guilty of overselling itself, just a bit. Yes, the movie is certainly more swollen in scope and tone than Joyce’s eco-themed picture book on which it’s (very …

Michael Douglas Keeps Forging Ahead

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

pasadena, Calif. — One thing you can count on in Hollywood is that actor-producer Michael Douglas always does the unexpected. When he first started he became the hot new actor in the TV series The Streets of San …

‘Star Trek’ Takes on Terrorism

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Ratings by the Motion Picture Association of America are: (G) for general audiences; (PG) parental guidance urged because of material possibly unsuitable for children; (PG-13) parents are strongly cautioned to give guidance for attendance of children younger than …

Weinstein Showcases Films at Cannes

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Cannes, France (ap) — The Weinstein Co.’s fall slate of awards contenders will feature a glamorous Grace Kelly, a brawny Nelson Mandela and a mysterious J.D. Salinger. Harvey Weinstein previewed some of his company’s most anticipated upcoming releases …

Dartmouth Senior Shooting Feature Film in Hanover

Friday, May 17, 2013

San Luis Obispo, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, has at least three claims to fame. The first is that it is the home of the world’s first motel, built in 1925; the second is that in …

Young Cast Shines in ‘Into Darkness’

Friday, May 17, 2013

The nervy reboot of the Star Trek franchise by action impresario J.J. Abrams can be summed up, quite simply, as a triumph of casting. From the moment Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana showed up in Abrams’s …

Everyone Still Goes to Cannes

Friday, May 17, 2013

Cannes, France — It’s been 42 years since I first covered the Cannes Film Festival. Arriving on the French Riviera this week, I was struck by how Cannes has remained the quintessential place for film, despite enormous changes …

Online Video Producers Are Making More Shows for Women

Monday, May 6, 2013

Philadelphia — When it comes to online video, men aren’t the boss anymore. Rapidly growing in numbers and influence, female viewers are reshaping original programming at major platforms such as AOL, Hulu and YouTube. WIGS, YouTube’s popular women’s channel, marked its first anniversary with the premiere Friday of …

Iron Man 3: Six Questions and Answers

Saturday, May 4, 2013

It’s ‘deja-view’ all over again. Just like last May, it’s Marvel that kicks off the popcorn movie season with a superhero franchise. And if the global box office is any indicator, the new Iron Man 3 (already nearing …

A Sharp Domestic Comedy Masked as a Mega-Movie (N.Y.)

Saturday, May 4, 2013

New York — It’s tricky — and ultimately, perhaps, meaningless —to evaluate a movie like Iron Man 3 as an aesthetic object. Before it’s anything else, this is a Disney-Marvel product, the latest release from a massive global entertainment empire with enough revenue-earning power that the film’s distribution …