Film Reviews
Lymelife: How filmmakers look at recent American life
By David Walsh, May 30, 2009
Lymelife, directed and co-written by Derick Martini (along with his brother Steven), takes place in a New York City suburb in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The film has its share of clichés, but it ...
Star Trek: Boldly going where no man has gone before, again
By Hiram Lee, May 27, 2009
The latest Star Trek film returns to the original characters of the 1960s show and reveals how the crew of the “Starship Enterprise” was formed. One of several recent attempts at “rebooting” a...
The Soloist: Strife and despair in the City of Angels
By Dan Conway, May 21, 2009
The Soloist chronicles the real-life encounters of columnist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr., a former cello-playing prodigy whose musical ambitions were derailed by a severe case of schi...
Samson and Delilah: a searing portrait of life for Central Australian Aboriginal youth
By Richard Phillips, May 14, 2009
Samson and Delilah touches on many social issues—poverty, homelessness and substance abuse in Aboriginal communities—questions that Australian feature filmmakers have, up until now, largely chosen...
“To show the beauty of this reality”
Film director Sergey Dvortsevoy speaks with WSWS
By Richard Phillips, May 6, 2009
Sergey Dvortsevoy, director and co-writer of Tulpan, spoke with the World Socialist Web Site during his recent visit to Australia.
Tulpan: Poverty and unrequited dreams on the Kazakh steppes
By Richard Phillips, May 6, 2009
Documentary filmmaker Sergey Dvortsevoy’s Tulpan is a gentle but engaging drama about shepherds in southern Kazakhstan.
Everlasting Moments: The world to be explored and preserved
By Joanne Laurier, April 30, 2009
At the age of 77, Swedish director Jan Troell is one of Europe’s more distinguished filmmakers. His latest film, Everlasting Moments, tells the story of Maria Larsson, a Finnish-born mother of seven...
State of Play: More of Washington’s conspiracies
By David Walsh, April 28, 2009
State of Play is a political thriller, based on a mini-series broadcast by the BBC in 2003. The filmmakers have transposed the events to the US and condensed six hours to two. The general shape of the...
Sin Nombre: The fate of Central American youth on their way to the US
By Luis Arce, April 24, 2009
Following the lives of two teenagers, Sin Nombre tells the story of thousands of poor youth in Central America trying to cope with a society that has nothing for them.
Sugar: baseball and struggle
By Alan Whyte, April 16, 2009
Sugar is a fictional account of an aspiring pitcher from the Dominican Republic, played by an actual player, Algenis Perez Soto. The filmmakers, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), have cast a nu...
Sunshine Cleaning: A misplaced sense of where the drama (or comedy) lies
By David Walsh, April 8, 2009
In Christine Jeffs’ film, set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, two sisters (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt) go into business together--cleaning up crime scenes.
The Combination: Australian stereotypes reinforced
By Mile Klindo, April 2, 2009
The Combination is a recently released low budget production about immigrant youth in Sydney’s working class western suburbs.
