Valley of the Wolves - Iraq. “It is rabidly anti-American, and it is the biggest draw in town.” That’s the headline of Sarah Rainsford’s BBC article on the Turkish blockbuster…
Travelin’ Thru the Transamerica way. Kevin Zegers and Felicity Huffman star in Duncan Tucker’s “family values” road movie Transamerica, which follows a pre-op male-to-female transsexual (Huffman) who becomes acquainted with…
What’s “European”? The Constant Gardener with Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Oscar-nominated Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (City of God, 2003) and mostly set in Kenya, The Constant Gardener…
Incest movie Don’t Tell with Giovanna Mezzogiorno. Incest movie ‘Don’t Tell’ is Italian Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award replacement Cristina Comencini’s incest-themed movie La Bestia nel cuore / Don’t…
Mighty Times: The Children’s March: Documentary or docudrama? Bobby Houston’s now controversial Best Documentary Short Academy Award winner depicts – with the assistance of elaborate “reenactments” – the 1963 civil…
What are the Academy Awards? One choice answer: “A celebration of mediocrity,” as per Oscar winner Mel Gibson. Here’s another – albeit less pointed summation: “Peer group nods of approval,”…
Hilary Swank Oscar triumph: The star of Clint Eastwood’s sentimental boxing melodrama Million Dollar Baby has become the 21st century’s first two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner. Her previous victory,…
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s World War I-set French drama A Very Long Engagement would have been one of the Oscars’ top Best Foreign Language Film contenders – had it been eligible. But…
Sidney Lumet movies will finally be earning an Academy Award statuette for the five-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker, whose credits include 12 Angry Men, The Group, Serpico, Murder on the Orient Express,…
Is there a Jesus Christ & George W. Bush connection? “Hollywood observers” purportedly claim that the United States’ presidential election is somehow reflected in the Academy Awards’ Best Picture category.…
Brad Bird’s animated Pixar hit The Incredibles – on its way to becoming one of the year’s biggest blockbusters in the global market – is one of 11 titles eligible…
Oscar contenders: The Academy has announced the list of semifinalists for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar; included are several high-profile titles, but, somewhat surprisingly, Iraq War-themed films have been thoroughly…
Entries from 49 countries are in contention for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Yet arcane rules have prevented two well-received non-English-language features starring Gael García Bernal from being even…