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Between the Frames
How two refugee academics and a gaggle of moonlighting novelists shaped a golden age of Weekly film criticism
Film editor 1989-1991Staff writer 1991-1993, 1995-presentIn the summer of 1989, I took a one-year leave from my job teaching media sociology at... More>>
By Ella Taylor
Published: December 04, 2008
the Weekly Goes to the Movies
When writing about them really mattered
Contributing writer 2003-2005Film editor 2005-presentIn my beginning is my end—T.S. Eliot I wish I could say that L.A. Weekly and I were... More>>
By Scott Foundas
Published: December 04, 2008
How Acclaimed Indie Director Gus Van Sant Finally Got Milk How Acclaimed Indie Director Gus Van Sant Finally Got Milk
A tale of two movies
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, 1992 to be exact. Gus Van Sant, the filmmaker who had just thrilled the world with his... More>>
By David Ehrenstein
Published: November 27, 2008
Milk: Proposition Hate Milk: Proposition Hate
Biopic recaptures Californian intolerance at exactly the right time
Gus Van Sant has never been what you’d call a risk-averse filmmaker, but he directs his Harvey Milk biopic so carefully, there might be a... More>>
By J. Hoberman
Published: November 27, 2008
Australia: Somewhere Over the Dateline Australia: Somewhere Over the Dateline
Baz Luhrmann's not quite marvelous land of Oz
You don’t have to have been raised on colonial Brit Lit, classic melodramas, Westerns, war movies, or Gone With the Wind to predict the... More>>
By Ella Taylor
Published: November 27, 2008
TV REVIEW: Suspicious Eyes — One Muslim Family, Two Views of Terrorism in Britz on BBC America
Plus, The Joy of Crooking: Leverage on TNT
Sometimes it seems that the only Muslim characters in contemporary drama are either Islamic extremists (no!) or nonthreatening friends of the... More>>
By Robert Abele
Published: November 27, 2008
Bad Girls Club: Cheap Perfume and Boozy Breath
New, for season three, a full hour of crazy-chick eroticism
It is useless to ignoreThe Bad Girls Club, starting its third season on Tuesday. It is the crack cocaine of unhinged party-girl... More>>
By Robert Abele
Published: November 27, 2008
Movie Reviews: Ben X, Four Christmases, Special, Transporter 3 Movie Reviews: Ben X, Four Christmases, Special, Transporter 3
Also, Fix, Lake City, The Matador and more
THE BEAUTIFUL TRUTH Writer-director Steve Kroschel’s documentary preaches (and preaches and preaches) the gospel of Dr. Max Gerson, who, in... More>>
By L.A. Weekly Film Critics
Published: November 27, 2008
Bolt's Leashed Lightning Bolt's Leashed Lightning
Disney's latest toon is a starry dog story
With his blazing white coat and pig-pink ears, to say nothing of the zigzag of lightning cut into his flank, the eponymous canine lead of... More>>
By Ella Taylor
Published: November 20, 2008
Catherine Deneuve: Belle De 50 Ans Catherine Deneuve: Belle De 50 Ans
The actress on her new film, A Christmas Tale, and her long, glorious non-career
Siren. Icon. Muse. You can apply any or all of those labels to Catherine Deneuve but trying to make any one of them stick is trickier than... More>>
By Scott Foundas
Published: November 20, 2008
David Thomson: Notes On Canons, Pantheons and a Century of Cinema
An exclusive excerpt from “Have You Seen ... ?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films
Choosing their top 10 is a game most film critics are accustomed to — and one that allows depressives to ask, “Are there really 10... More>>
By David Thomson
Published: November 20, 2008
Kitchen-Sink Experimentalism Kitchen-Sink Experimentalism
(Re-)Discovering Coleen Fitzgibbon
One of the gratifying side effects of contemporary media overload and its frequent inanity is a keen hunger of viewers for challenging,... More>>
By Holly Willis
Published: November 20, 2008
Joan Crawford: The Eyes Have It Joan Crawford: The Eyes Have It
UCLA salutes the brilliant, misunderstood actress
No actress in movie history was more ambitious and got a bummer rap because of it than Joan Crawford, née Lucille Fay LeSueur, who would... More>>
By Ed Gonzalez
Published: November 20, 2008
Political Theater
The strange spectacle that is Hugo Chavez’s presidency
Somewhere between Barack Obama’s plan for direct YouTube communiqués to the people (“firewall” chats, you could call... More>>
By Robert Abele
Published: November 20, 2008
Movie Reviews: Twilight, Dostana, Eden Movie Reviews: Twilight, Dostana, Eden
Also, The Dukes, Toots, I Can't Think Straight and more
GO  DOSTANA Carefully established as womanizing wolves trolling Miami, male nurse Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan) and photographer Kunal (John... More>>
By L.A. Weekly Film Critics
Published: November 20, 2008
Fall Film: Delta Blues, in Black and White Fall Film: Delta Blues, in Black and White
How Lance Hammer earned his beautiful new film Ballast
When the lights came up after the first screening of Ballast at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, an audible murmur of surprise rolled... More>>
By Scott Foundas
Published: November 13, 2008
Fall Film: A Christmas Tale Fall Film: A Christmas Tale
Arnaud Desplechin comes home for the horror days
Pick a film by Arnaud Desplechin, and likely as not you’ll find a house full of labile French hobgoblins stewing volubly over old wounds... More>>
By Ella Taylor
Published: November 13, 2008
Fall Film: From Manchester to Mumbai with Danny Boyle Fall Film: From Manchester to Mumbai with Danny Boyle
A Filmmaker Less Ordinary
I’m telling Danny Boyle over coffee that his new film, Slumdog Millionaire, is his best by far. “I hope it comes across that I had a... More>>
By Ella Taylor
Published: November 13, 2008
Fall Film: Robert Downey, Sr. — A Prince Fall Film: Robert Downey, Sr. — A Prince
Like Son, Like Father
Before his son and namesake grew up to be the edgiest Hollywood actor of his generation, Robert Downey Sr. enjoyed a small measure of celebrity... More>>
By J. Hoberman
Published: November 13, 2008
Fall Film: Quantum of Solace Fall Film: Quantum of Solace
James Bond, neither shaken nor stirred
Those of us who adored Casino Royale, the 2006 reboot of the haggard, self-parodic James Bond franchise, had some trouble trying to decide where... More>>
By Robert Wilonsky
Published: November 13, 2008
Fall Film: Slumdog Millionaire: Game Show Masala Fall Film: Slumdog Millionaire: Game Show Masala
Bollywood Meets Hollywood
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Well, who wouldn’t in this economy, even if the currency in question is rupees and winning the loot means... More>>
By Scott Foundas
Published: November 13, 2008