Company Men Company Men
Although car chases are formulaic, they needn't be standard issue. One of the many substantial pleasures that The Bourne Identity offers is a thoughtful car chase, a loving car ch...
Jun 20, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
France: The Film Vote France: The Film Vote
Politics were never far from anyone's mind at this year's fifty-fifth Cannes International Film Festival, which unfolded in a France still reeling from the shock of far-right cand...
Jun 13, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Leslie Camhi
Global Rights: The Movies Global Rights: The Movies
As all reputable news outlets assure us, privatization benefits everyone--which is lucky, since these same outlets report that privatization is inevitable. We live out a happy fat...
Jun 6, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Sleepless in Nightmute Sleepless in Nightmute
You may recall Insomnia as a Norwegian film made on a modest budget--do I repeat myself?--about the inner life of a morally compromised police detective. The picture enjoyed a sma...
May 23, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Band’s Long Waltz The Band’s Long Waltz
When I first saw The Last Waltz in 1978, I almost walked out, although I was a fan of both director Martin Scorsese and The Band. I admit I was one of the folks whose tickets for...
May 16, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
The First Webbie The First Webbie
Say what you will against the Hollywood event film, and you can say it twice about Spider-Man. Twice, because this movie has been so successfully pre-sold, mall-booked, cross-m...
May 9, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Days of May The Days of May
What date shall I assign to Chris Marker's magnum opus, A Grin Without a Cat? This rugged oak of an essay-film, whose gnarls trace the growth and withering of decades of leftis...
Apr 25, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
African Queen African Queen
Filmmakers in sub-Saharan Africa tend to divide their attention between city life today and village life once upon a time. This rule has its exceptions, of course; but if you're s...
Apr 11, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Oscar Opens the Door Oscar Opens the Door
As Halle Berry elegantly strode to the podium to accept her best actress Oscar, the first for a black woman, she wept uncontrollably and gasped, "This moment is so much bigger tha...
Mar 28, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Michael Eric Dyson
Have Car, Will Travel Have Car, Will Travel
If you're in the mood to see great acting, I recommend that you watch Aurélien Recoing get caught in a lie in Laurent Cantet's Time Out. As Vincent, a French management con...
Mar 28, 2002 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans