Film & TV
From Transylvania to Hollywood
“Bite me” splashes across the chest of a 13-year-old waiting in line in San Francisco to meet the cast of Twilight.
A New Kind of Vampire
I have never been to a screening quite like Twilight’s. The young adult novel turned film has attracted a rabid female fan, ranging from screaming teenyboppers to their obsessed grandmothers and everyone in between, all of whom are crazy about the original book, this adaptation and/or Robert Pattinson.
Interview With A Vampire
Robert Pattinson is bewildered. Toying with a half-empty bottle of Coke set in front of him, he thumbs the cap a few times before answering a question at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Guilty Pleasures: Newsies (1992)
Newsies 1992 Let’s face it: musicals are the ultimate guilty pleasure. The dialogue is always cheesy and the plot is generally sacrificed for campy song-and-dance numbers every 15 to 20 minutes.
Synecdoche
Charlie Kaufman has a great track record: he’s the guy who penned cult classics Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation.
Shaking [But Not Stirring] It Up
James Bond has been around for 46 years, and — because he’s only human, we think — he’s changed a lot over the decades.
Point/Counterpoint: FILM AWARD CEREMONIES
Do award shows confer legitimacy, or are they just political tools? Do they reflect the will of the masses or broadcast the view of the super elite?
Guilty Pleasures: Cutting Edge (1992)
The Cutting Edge 1992 If it were possible to distill the essence of the early ’90s to its purest form, the result would be a VHS copy of The Cutting Edge, the tale of two zamboni-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the decade’s ice skating craze.
Summer? No. We Hot? Definitely.
Street: Did you have any inclination to do Wet Hot American Summer-type things with this film? DW: Not really.
Paul Rudd: We Want To Be Him
It’s an ode to dorks. Referencing everything from L.A.R.P.-ing (live action role playing) to KISS trivia, Role Models brings out the pedant in us all.
Guilty Pleasures: Election (1999)
Election 1999 Alright, technically Election isn’t a guilty pleasure. With a 93% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this brilliant satire is nothing if not a cult classic and critical darling.
Spare Change
It’s not difficult to tell when a film is fishing for an Oscar, and that effort sometimes pays off.
The Internet Is For Porn... When Kevin Smith Isn't Silent
Street: You had to appeal to the MPAA to overturn Zack and Miri’s original NC-17 rating. Did anything have to be edited out? KS: No.
Sinking Economy = More Porn Stars
Perhaps one of the most aptly named films to come along in a long time, Zack and Miri Make a Porno allows director and writer Kevin Smith to explore the tricky territory of “friends with benefits.” Best friends since forever, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Penn alum Elizabeth Banks) run into hard times and resort to the wonderful world of adult entertainment to keep themselves afloat.
Election Perfection
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Jimmy Stewart’s earnest depiction of a small-town man’s ascent to the Senate and his surprisingly tough stand against political corruption have captured the hearts of American moviegoers for nearly 70 years.
Forgotten Cinematic Masterpiece: City Lights (1931)
Few films in cinematic history have withstood the test of time better than Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.
Life Isn't Beautiful
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, based on the eponymous novel by John Boyne, recounts the tragedy of the Holocaust as filtered through the innocent screen of childhood naiveté. The plot centers on an eight-year-old German boy, Bruno (newcomer Asa Butterfield), whose father (David Thewlis) is put in charge of a Nazi death camp.
Guilty Pleasures: Xanadu
Xanadu 1980 I have a secret that threatens to destroy my credibility among my serious-theater friends: I cannot get enough of Xanadu.
Calling All Muses
Woody Allen + Diane Keaton The on- and offscreen sparks between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are redolent of a connection Scarlett Johansson can only dream about.
