Prominent pseudo-left philosopher Slavoj Žižek continues his political descent by penning pro-NATO, pro-imperialist opinion pieces in the Guardian.
Dogman, which has now opened in the US, is a serious attempt to deal with a difficult, and in this climate not especially promising subject—a notorious and horrific murder in Rome in 1988.
Assembly is saturated with reactionary postmodern conceptions, recycles worn-out anarchist recipes as innovative and progressive experiments and endorses virtually every political dead end of the recent and not-so-recent past.
Dogman is a serious attempt to deal with a difficult, and in this climate not especially promising subject.
Official reports indicate that more than 9,000 homeless people live on the streets of San Diego, with over a thousand of them being concentrated in the downtown area.
Pablo Larraín’s Neruda is a highly unconventional and dissatisfying biopic of the Chilean poet.
Hochschild is the well-known author of several books on wide-ranging and important topics, including the brutality of Belgian colonialism in the Congo (King Leopold’s Ghost).
In an opinion column published in the New York Times, Professor Mark C. Taylor, chairman of the religion department at Columbia University, takes as his point of departure a series of real problems that affect the university system in the United States.
Written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
A week after the eruption of wildfires across seven Southern California counties led to the largest mass evacuation in California’s history, and as authorities announce progress in containing the blazes, people are returning to their homes to assess the damage and rebuild their lives. As of Sunday, over 2,000 homes had been consumed by fire and many more had sustained varying degrees of damage.
Marie Antoinette, written and directed by Sofia Coppola
Rang De Basanti, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
I am not scared, directed by Gabriele Salvatores, screenplay by Francesca Marciano and Niccolò Ammaniti, based on the novel by Ammaniti
Lost in Translation is an ephemeral film that fails to leave much of a mark. Prodded to think about the film, one will recognize that there are some worthwhile as well as some troubling elements in it. But the film fails primarily at the emotional level, since what we see on the screen fades away so quickly. The audience will come out of the theater having laughed at a few jokes—mostly at the expense of the Japanese—having enjoyed the actors’ performances, but fundamentally unchallenged and unaffected.
Swimming Pool, directed by François Ozon, written by Ozon and Emanuèle Bernheim
Bread and Tulips, directed by Silvio Soldini, written by Soldini and Doriana Leondeff
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, screenplay by Kumar Dave, Sanjay Dayma and Ashutosh Gowariker, story by Ashutosh Gowariker, dialogue by K.P. Saxena
An important vote on six referenda took place in Italy on May 22. All of the initiatives failed to pass because the required quorum of over 50 percent of eligible voters was not met. Though only 32 percent of the electorate voted, this event could mark a significant moment in the evolution of Italian politics, and provides an occasion for a discussion of its ongoing crisis.
Chris Smith's documentary American Movie is a puzzling work. The documentary follows the life of Mark Borchardt, a poor aspiring filmmaker in Wisconsin in the American Midwest, as he struggles to finance, write, produce, direct and act in his low-budget horror film Coven, with the help of a few friends and relatives.
Dogma is an occasionally funny and only superficially transgressive comedy about Catholicism and religion. Many notable—actors Matt Damon and Linda Fiorentino—and notorious—comedians George Carlin and Chris Rock—figures participate as members of the cast. The plot consists of an Armageddon scenario that is alternative to the Biblical one. Two angels cast by God into Wisconsin find a theological loophole that threatens to erase all existence.
