Film & TV
Towering achievement
Following in the wake of Syriana and The Constant Gardener, Babel is a thought-provoking film examining a multitude of characters and locales. Set in Morocco, Japan, San Diego and Mexico, the movie cuts among four interconnected tales.
Bloody 'ell!
With a new album out and a national tour, Ben Kweller certainly is a busy fellow. Sacrificing valuable time for baby clothes shopping at a Cincinnati Old Navy, the one-man band takes a few moments to talk to Street about bloody noses, intellectual property, and even his music. Street: On your new album you play all the instruments yourself, was that something you planned on doing much prior to recording, or when exactly was that decision made? Kweller: It happened at the last minute.
Whacking Bush
At first glance Death of a President seems like an anarchist's dream: a mock documentary, set in 2008, which profiles the 2007 assassination of George W.
We Didn't Start the Fire
Catch a Fire tells the true story of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke), a South African terrorist who joins the African National Congress (ANC) only because he is falsely accused of already having done so.
Panic on the Playground
In Todd Field's Little Children, the screen adaptation of the novel by Tom Perrotta, it's clear that the children in question are not those in the strollers, but the ones pushing them. Children is a story of suburban dissatisfaction.
Not Your average Church pedophilia Scandal
A case study on what could be called the biggest crisis to ever face the Catholic Church, Deliver Us from Evil tells the story of Father Oliver O'Grady, a California parishioner who sexually abused children throughout the 1970s and '80s.
A big step up from 'Battlefield Earth'
In a conference call this week, Street had the chance to sit down with actor Barry Pepper of Saving Private Ryan, 61*, and, most recently, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.
Tween flicks are for kids
In the adaptation of his novel Stormbreaker, screenwriter Anthony Horowitz desperately tries to combine the plot aspects of a James Bond movie and the humor of Austin Powers.
Vote Mrs. Doubtfire in
Every week, a sizable number of young Americans tunes into The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and most have probably thought, at one point or another: "This guy should really get out of the whole late-night comedy thing and run for office." Stewart seems like the perfect candidate to some: his verbal whooping of Tucker Carlson on Crossfire proved his debating chops, and the rise of The Colbert Report gives him a natural running mate. Naturally, Hollywood is never too far behind, swooping in with Man of the Year to help indulge liberal fantasies.
Where would Jesus camp?
Perhaps the most frightening movie Americans see this Halloween is neither Saw III nor The Grudge 2 but a documentary about evangelical Christians called Jesus Camp.
Betsy Palmer's triumphant return
As someone who has made a few horror films, Felix Diaz is a huge fan of the genre. A man who believes that such films give the viewer "something you can't get from real life," Diaz sought to give horror, sci-fi, fantasy and thriller films the credit they deserve.
The truman show continues
In 1959, four members of a Kansas family were brutally murdered in their home. The gruesome killings inspired both a media frenzy and a literary classic, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Infamous illuminates the motivation behind the murders and Capote's coverage of the story.
YOUR WHAT FEELS LIKE CORN?!?
If you asked us which of today's popular young comics most definitely engages in recreational drug abuse, we'd probably say Dane Cook - in about a second.
Three-6 Mafia: 1, Scorsese: Almost 1
In his latest triumph, Martin Scorsese succeeds where few before him have: filming a remake that trumps the original in all respects.
Great Scot!
The Last King of Scotland is an intense political thriller that brings to life the mythical figure of 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker's performance as Amin mesmerizes.
Chinese Road Trip (Tom Green not Included)
In the Chinese film Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, acclaimed director Yimou Zhang (House of Flying Daggers; Hero) presents a compelling meditation on father-son relationships.
A Royal Flush
In an age when one can't swing a bat in a video store without hitting a biopic, it's easy to get sick of movies that chronicle the lives of famous people, no matter how interesting those lives may or may not have been.
Reinventing Lennon
The U.S. vs. John Lennon traces pop star John Lennon's metamorphosis from mop-topped singer to one of the most eminent cultural icons of the 1970s. During that decade, his antiwar actions garnered media attention and the wrath of the Nixon administration, which persecuted Lennon by following, wiretapping and attempting to deport him. Aside from the political story, Lennon shows the passionate, complex relationship Lennon shared with his wife, Yoko Ono.
He's Here for the Gang Bang
Perhaps no filmmaker today has a better grasp on a college guy's sense of humor than Todd Phillips. The director who cornered the market on frat-boy comedies - Old School, Road Trip - played Twenty Questions in an exclusive interview with Street at the Four Seasons downtown Tuesday to promote his new movie School for Scoundrels. Street: What's it like working with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)? What's he like in real life? Todd Phillips: In real life, Heder is a Mormon, did you know that? Street: I heard the cast from Napoleon was shipped in from Utah. TP: They're all like Mormon guys.
