The New Republic

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The Baader Meinhof Complex The giant wave of terrorism that swept Germany in 1967-1977, led by the so-called Baader Meinhof gang, is here treated intelligently,, revealingly. The young perpetrators are explored, the picture sears, the viewer is left enlightened and somewhat shaken. (Reviewed 9/23/09) Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.. Parts of David Foster Wallace’s tumultuous book are here rendered as (initially calm) research for a dissertation on men’s views of women. Various smolderings occur, and the interviews take life. (10/7/09)  READ MORE >>

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"Hell is a teenage girl," Jennifer's Body announces in its opening moments. But the film's thesis is really more particular: Hell is a teenage girl who has been unsuccessfully sacrificed to Satan by an alt-rock band and, as a result, finds that she has become a flesh-eating demon. It's a difficult case to contest. READ MORE >>

At a Christmas party in 2004, a cousin asked me "Do you like Medea?" For a minute I was a confused, since it didn’t seem to be the occasion for sharing our impressions of Greek mythology. But it turned out she was talking about Madea, the massive, loudmouthed, pistol-packing black grandmother who Tyler Perry performs as in drag in a series of "chitlin' circuit" touring shows. READ MORE >>

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest celluloid gala in the world. Not as vaunted and haunted by the publicity machines but intellectually more serious than Cannes. The Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia, a most prestigious element of the Venice Biennale, bestowed its Golden Lion award, its top honor, on an Israeli film called Lebanon. It is a relentlessly honest film about war itself but also specifically about Israel's first real war in Lebanon. READ MORE >>

The Baader Meinhof Complex Vitagraph Films Still Walking IFC Films READ MORE >>

The Baader Meinhof Complex. A dynamic and fascinating account of the German terrorists of the 1970s. We enter the graphic story with the leaders, understanding their anger with the post-Nazi moral torpor. But their bloody violence keeps us in tension about them. Stunningly directed and forcefully acted. (Reviewed 9/23/09) READ MORE >>

Quiet Chaos -- IFC Films The Girl From Monaco -- Magnolia Pictures READ MORE >>

QUIET CHAOS IFC FILMS   THE GIRL FROM MONACO MAGNOLIA PICTURES   Nanni Moretti, treasured in Europe, is scarcely known in the United States. This schism usually happens with film people whose work is strapped culturally to one country, but Moretti's writing and directing and acting are not only celebrated in Italy, they have prospered elsewhere. Not here, however, though his strongest concern is human commonality. READ MORE >>