Peter Schilling The Shop Around the Corner, 1940. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch; written by Miklos Laszlo, Samson Raphaelson, and Ben Hecht. Starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan, Felix Bressart, Joseph Schildkraut, and William Tracy. Available at DVD stores, your public library, and hopefully in whatever paradise we’ll find in the afterlife… Did Margaret Sullavan finally kill … Read more
Volver, 2006. Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. Starring Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre, and Carlos Blanco. Now showing at the Edina Cinema. As a strong, hot wind rages in a La Mancha graveyard, as groups of determined women scrub and brush down the … Read more
The best and worst films of 2006. We critics like to play our little games at the end of every year, whereby we bestow certain movies the gift of being shortlisted as the best (or worst) of that particular year. Of course, this is always a personal choice, influenced by the tastes of the writer, … Read more
Apocalypto, 2006. Directed by Mel Gibson, written by Gibson and Farhad Safinia. Starring Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Bird, Carlos Emilio Baez, Raoul Trujillo, Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Fernando Hernandez Perez, and Maria Isidra Hoil. Among many others… Now showing in theaters around town. From the sermons of street critic Guy Fresno: Roll … Read more
The Late Show, 1977. Written and directed by Robert Benton. Starring Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, the great character actor Bill Macy, Eugene Roche, Joanna Cassidy, and John Considine. Who’s making noir anymore? Foreigners, maybe, immigrants from a decaying Russia come to France to ply their trade, or Austrians eager to shake us by the nape … Read more
The Nativity Story and Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple. The Nativity Story, 2006. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Mike Rich. Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Ciaran Hinds, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Stanley Townsend, Alexander Siddig, Joe Pesci look-alike Nadim Sawalha, Eriq Ebouaney, Stefan Kalipha, and Farida Ouchani. Now … Read more
It’s simple, really: when I’m feeling intolerably blue, when the skies cannot seem to shed that husk of gray and the sun is merely a dim memory, and when all of life feels hollow and miserable, I turn to movies. And one in particular, one that conjures up better days and reminds me of people … Read more
Casino Royale, 2006. Directed by Martin Campbell, written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and the ubiquitous Paul Haggis. Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Giancaro Giannini, Jeffrey Wright, Isaach De Bankole, and Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, who seems obliged to poke his ugly mug into all the big-budget movies. There’s a … Read more
When Phil Harder has a hankering to check out a band at 7th Street Entry, he doesn’t have to hop in his car and drive downtown from his home on Marshall Street, just north of Broadway. In Harder’s neighborhood—a lovely admixture of industrial scrap yards, hip galleries, and such hangouts as the Sample Room and … Read more
While Sudan and Qatar might be tougher bets, most Americans could spin a globe and pinpoint Saudi Arabia’s deserts with relative ease. Even if your geography fails you, you’ve no doubt at least heard of Saudi and perhaps recall Peter O’Toole shouting across the desert sands in Lawrence of Arabia. The average American might know … Read more