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(06/10/11 7:50pm)
It’s safe to say that The Tree of Life is a film whose reputation precedes it. The picture’s lengthy development process is only paralleled by its ambitious scope, which stretches from the origin of the universe through an ultra postmodern present. Its celebrated premiere at Cannes last month earned it a coveted Palme d’Or win. As a result, critics and scholars alike have descended on The Tree of Life in a frenzy, churning out polarized pieces that illustrate the extent to which director Terrence Malick’s latest offering both inspires and confounds its viewers.
(04/21/11 6:06am)
In five days, Penn’s seniors will have their last day of college classes. 14 days later, the Class of 2011 will engage in the drunken merriment of Senior Week. On May 16, they will become graduates under the watching eye of Denzel Washington. But then what?
(04/18/11 12:00pm)
While The Conspirator may be a historical drama about the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, its contemporary relevance could hardly be less apparent. The murder of the president has sent Washington — and the rest of the nation, though the film’s limited scope would hardly indicate that — into a frenzied quest for justice. With John Wilkes Booth already murdered, the famous killer’s cohorts are summarily rounded up and arrested. Their Constitutional right to a trial by jury is suspended, and they are instead put in front of a committee of Union army officers at a military tribunal. The rule of law is naught.
(04/14/11 8:00am)
In case you find some downtime in between the mimosa–filled morning bashes and drunkorexic downtowns of the evening this weekend, Street beckons you to pull up a beanbag chair and turn on, tune in and drop out. While there’s no one movie guaranteed to lift you from your mid–afternoon slump, Street suggests a film for every altered state of mind — along with a few to avoid at all cost.
(03/31/11 8:30am)
Though West Philadelphia is hardly Hollywood, Penn hosts a thriving student film scene. Just look no further than this year’s iteration of the College Houses Film Festival, held March 21–24. Of the 52 short films that were screened in the festival’s first three days, 15 finalists emerged. And while all 15 films were screened at the Rave, four winners separated themselves from the pack. Street interviewed three of the future auteurs.
(03/31/11 8:00am)
Middle–aged men in crisis have been so prominent in American independent film that the character type has become cliche. At first glance, Tom McCarthy’s Win Win would seem to fit the mold. But much like he did in The Visitor (2008), the actor–director deftly handles a familiar cinematic trope with the help of a formidable cast. The result is a nuanced film that is both warmhearted and witty.
(03/24/11 10:30am)
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(03/17/11 5:08am)
With a number of mediocre sequels and insipid, CGI–ridden genre films on the horizon, it’s no surprise that audiences everywhere are hankering for the original, thought–provoking cinema of yore. Though the studios have yet to recognize their shortcomings, the Philadelphia Film Society and the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ are stepping in and taking viewers back to Hollywood’s Golden Age.
(02/24/11 8:37am)
BEST PICTURE
Nominated: Black Swan
Should be: Blue Valentine
Black Swan has little character development, a repetitive plot and misguided performances, yet it continues to receive nearly unanimous praise from critics who should be ashamed of themselves. Blue Valentine gave us two of the year’s most realistic, fully–rounded performances, with an innovative structure that only served to make the ending all the more heart–renching. Put side to side, Black Swan comes off as a disrespectful joke.
(02/23/11 10:32pm)
The Oscars are to film buffs what the Superbowl is to sports fans. Which is why it’s no surprise that campus is buzzing with pseudo-bookies trying to make a quick buck off Oscar pools.
(02/05/11 4:09pm)
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Click here for an interactive bracket
(02/03/11 7:00am)
Oh, Taco Bell. First, there was the incessant rumor that the company turned its beloved mascot into a chalupa. Now, the “Mexican” fast food giant is under scrutiny because an Alabama law firm has claimed that its beef filling is only 36–percent beef.
(02/03/11 6:43am)
It all started out so innocently. As a cinema studies major, I was virtually required to spend countless hours in Rosengarten watching movies on subpar TVs with questionable sound quality. But once I moved off campus, the 10–to–15 minute trek to Van Pelt felt like the Iditarod — worse, actually, since the prize for crossing the finish line was two hours of watching a woman peel potatoes.
(01/21/11 4:56am)
Sure, it was the year of The Social Network and The Fighter, but audiences also suffered through Sex and the City 2 and Furry Vengeance. Given how the studios performed at the box office (read: bad), we’re guessing you may not have made too many trips to The Rave this semester. And if our in/out list is any indication, it looks like things won’t be too much better in 2011. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
(04/22/10 5:33am)
There’s a vocal group of film buffs that insists that Quentin Tarantino has never made a movie better than Jackie Brown. And as soon as you see the film’s opening sequence, it becomes hard to disagree. If the chords of Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” aren’t convincing, the sight of blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier on the screen ought to be enough.
(02/04/10 6:18am)
With its celebration of ’80s-style overindulgence and superficial consumerism, Troop Beverly Hills is just the film to combat those recessionista blues.
(09/17/09 11:41pm)
Street: What led you to make a documentary about Vogue and Anna Wintour?
Cutler: Anna is this extraordinary cultural figure. She’s somebody who everybody knows, but nobody knows anything about. And so I was intrigued.
(09/17/09 6:44am)
Director R.J. Cutler’s The September Issue is a fly-on-the-wall look into the life of the elusive Vogue editor Anna Wintour. While the documentary may fail to deliver the definitive portrait that fashion lovers so desperately crave, Cutler still offers a rare view of an elite, mysterious entity.
(07/30/09 3:07am)
If Monty Python wasn’t evidence enough, In The Loop is proof that the Brits are comedic geniuses. Writer-director Armando Iannucci has succeeded in marrying the low-brow spontaneity of The Office with the intellectual subject matter of The West Wing. The result is an acerbic look at the diplomatic process that strips away the facade of idealism and rhetoric on which politicians so often rely.
(07/15/09 11:25pm)
With seven French Academy Awards to its name, Seraphine might be the year’s most honored film. In a small town in France prior to World War I, the frumpy, middle-aged Seraphine Louis (Yolande Moreau) is a hard-working housekeeper for the town’s elite. Seraphine spends her evenings painting, claiming an order from her guardian angel one day told her to leave the convent and become an artist. When the German art critic Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) discovers her work, she is set on an unexpected path towards fame and fortune.