Deadpan and natural comedic situations infused with pathos is difficult to successfully pull off. Writer-director James L. Brooks proved himself to be quite the master at that style of filmmaking. After his massive success with 1983’s “Terms of Endearment,” many Hollywood dramedies tried to reach for that golden ring that Brooks made look so effortless on screen. Most failed or could never find the right balance of drama, tears, and laughter.

In 1970 Hunter S. Thompson began a bizarre run for sheriff of Pitkin County, Col., where he ran on the “Freak Power” ticket. The title of Thompson’s ticket is a pushback on the prejudice toward the local hippies from his opponent Carol Whitmire.

Coming on the heels of the good documentary “Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb,” which examined the same subject

After twenty years of working in the adult film industry in Los Angeles, Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), returns with his tail between his legs to Texas City, Texas, a small oil town south of Houston with twenty-two dollars in his pocket. He manages to convince his wife Lexi (Brie Elrod), with whom he’s separated, and his mother-in-law, to let him crash for a few days.

Promises are made. Mikey will find a job and he’ll put in his share of the rent.

CANNES, France - Ethics and civility are not synonymous with honor but it’s generally understood, by most, that if you adhere to an ethical and civil conduct in life, honor will naturally flow from it. The idea of honor endures more or less overtly in Iranian society, and Asghar Farhadi’s new film “A Hero” thrives on it as leitmotif. The honor of one man, a painter calligrapher, crushed by debt after a business venture goes south. The honor of those

This year's iteration of AFI DOCS showed once again that truth is more important than ever. Documentaries are enjoying a golden age, with not only major filmmakers but up-and-comers getting into the form to show us what is really real in our world. Many looked into the past, whether it was examining some truly courageous nuns or popping open the vault of a departed rock star. Some examined ongoing issues, such as gender pay gaps in sports

CANNES, France - A passing of the torch, of sorts, happened this year in Cannes, quietly: Jafar Panahi, high priest of Iranian cinema, bestowed the title upon his son (figuratively, of course). The Panahi name also became synonymous with a film dynasty, the counterweight, if one were to unseriously look at world cinema as a congeries of fiefdoms, to the House of Makhmalbaf.

Panahi, whose films

France counts a growing number of filmmakers making cool cinema and getting their films into festivals like Cannes, Berlin and the Biennale. Names such as Julia Ducournau (“Grave”), Hafsia Herzi (“Bonne Mère”) and Eva Husson come to mind, all of whom are presenting films this year at Cannes. The latter has directed her fourth film, "Mothering Sunday." Her previous work, "The Girls of the Sun," left me cold

Overtly social issues-based cinema risk are boring unless you're a Ken Loach in which case it's not boring. Everyone knows, everyone is aware. As filmmaker you'll need to up the ante, a little. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, with his new film "Lingui," appears to have not done this.

Amina lives with her fifteen year-old daughter Maria in a suburb of N’Djamena. Her world falls apart after she learns that her teenage daughter is pregnant. Amina herself had, in fact, experienced the same situation fifteen years earlier before being ostracized from her family.

“The Worst Person In The World” (“Verdens Verste Menneske” in the original Norwegian) directed by Joachim Trier and starring the architecturally-perfect Renate Reinsve, can be a little disconcerting at times. The story of a young thirtysomething who zigs and zags between professional aspirations, motherhood and men, is as entertaining as it can feel glossy and perfect (and not a stranger to clichés). Could this parade of well-filmed snapshots summarizing

To commit suicide is a weighty and personal matter, decency would have one take care of this business all on their own, without notifying anyone, let alone get several people to help you organize your sign-off party. But this is just what Monsieur Bernheim (France's eminent actor André Dussolier) asked of his two daughters, Emmanuelle (Sophie Marceau) and her sister (Geraldine Pailhas) after suffering a debilitating stroke, with more such events predicted