Homer’s memorized recitals of the stories of the heroes and gods certainly required a attention span. The Wrath of The Titans certainly does not. It demands only the attention typically demanded by modern Hollywood blockbuster screenwriting. But would Homer, in all his “As I lay dying, the woman with the dog face wouldn’t close my eyes as I descended into Hades”-ness, been better served by less longwindedness and more

The French title of the movie Délicatesse by the Foenkinos brothers has been translated by Delicacy, in the process losing its je-ne-sais-quoi. Delicacy brings food to mind rather than the subtle concept of thoughtfulness. Yet délicatesse is what makes classy, sophisticated and altogether charming executive Nathalie (played by Audrey Tautou, no less) sit up and notice a humble co-worker, Markus (François Damiens). Damiens is a schlub

If Hollywood summer blockbusters leave you dissatisfied because of their unreal veneer of CGI effects, or if PG-13 ratings turn your stomach because you yearn for a hard R action flick, then you must watch The Raid: Redemption, an Indonesian action dynamo that raises the bar for raw kinetic energy per-screen-minute. Set in the drably-lit slums of Jakarta, Raid tells the story of Rama, a SWAT officer who along with his team assaults an apartment

Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can die from encouragement. Wise words to the unwise. And yet, throwing caution to the wind thousands of would-be kid actors migrate to California to vie for a part in the fifty or so new television shows (known as pilots) which are produced each year (pilot season lasts from January to April). "Throwing caution to the wind" may sound overly prudent, but consider this: striving to become

Most people probably know Buddy Holly but not a single member of his backup band, the Crickets. Backup bands and other support acts make the stars possible, and seldom—if ever—get the recognition they deserve. Teen a Go Go goes behind the scenes to bring some of these unsung heroes into the light. Delving deep into the Sixties’ music scene of Ft. Worth, the documentary includes a plethora of Texas musicians—almost none of them known

Angelina Jolie, star extraordinaire, deserves an A for effort in directing In the Land of Blood and Honey. Not only does she care about the war-torn ex-Yugoslavia she shows but she throws herself fully into the making of the film. Red carpet photo-op and possible awards don’t seem part of the equation. This is a serious story told in as professional and honest a manner as possible. But the end result? A “C plus”--maybe . It may not be Jolie’s fault, pro-

There’s plenty superfluous commentary in Detachment, most of it delivered via the protagonist’s narrated monologues. We get a classroom lecture on the virtues of reading and the perils of an image-obsessed culture (which makes the image-obsessed Tony Kaye something of a hypocrite); we get cobweb-ridden life lessons such as “the world is a confusing place” and “everyone has chaos.” And in case we can’t tell that the entire

21 Jump Street isn’t just another forgettable adaptation of a television program, the disappearance of which noone laments. Mais non! The only interesting thing about this one is how it inadvertently ended up on the red carpet to greet the arrival of Hollywood’s unexpected leading men. Channing Tatum looks the part. The Hollywood heartthrob of a million female fantasies, he has anchored a string of overperforming rom-coms (Step Up, Dear

In the early 2000s, Genesis P-Orridge embarked on the latest major phase of an art career which is as erratic as they come. P-Orridge and his lover Lady Jaye undertook a “pandrogyny” project, in which they would eschew the bodies they were born with by going through a series of plastic surgeries with the goal of resembling each other as closely as possible. In effect, the aim was to meld their beings into each other’s, in spirit and body. This is the

It is scarcely conceivable that a teenager happening to watch Goodbye First Love, the third feature-length film by Mia Hansen-Løve, would recognize her or himself in the lead character of Camille (Lola Creton) or in her boyfriend Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky). That is, unless said teenager was one of the precious few to have weathered the dicey plunge into adolescent romance without the trepidations, fumbles, and emotional