These people, incidentally just as my own parents, were Lenin’s Pioneers growing up behind the Iron Curtain, who witnessed the breakdown of the USSR and were shocked by the instability of their country, their lives, and the concept of truth itself. Read more
If there was one moving, indelible image that I took away from the film, it wasn't anything said by the participants proudly remembering when they finally stood up to the police but from the police officer who in the twilight of life looks back with regret on making them do it: "You knew you could ruin [the people you arrested] for life [...] you felt bad..." Read more
One in four women over the age of eighteen has experienced some form of sexual abuse. Read more
Boston Globe music journalist Geoff Edgers states in his brief and lovable documentary Do It Again, “Pieces of the Kinks are still floating around out there, but we need the real thing.” Read more
I’ll cop to my own biases here rather than try to slough them off on them film. I’ve long been puzzled (and maybe frustrated) by evangelical or fundamentalist Christians (or members of communities who identify themselves as such) who will oppose legalized abortion on demand or stem cell research with the zealous, absolute certainty of the righteous and yet turn around and willingly participate (as consumers or support) in forms of surrogate pregnancy that may include the transportation or destruction of fertilized eggs. Read more
Because society often sends the message--overt or implied--that whether or not you are a "good person" is dependent on whether you can or will forgive, victims of serious or continued abuse may feel isolated, even when their experiences are common. Read more
Belle de jour is often described as a film about a middle-class housewife (Deneuve) who voluntarily becomes a prostitute, but that’s only true on a superficial level. Read more
A few years ago I wrote in a review that in an age of fatwahs and culture wars, I was reluctant to the point of refusal to use the word “immoral” when describing a film. I tend to shy away from the word “offensive” for opposite but corollary reasons. Read more
In soccer (or football, as the non-American world stubbornly persists in calling it), there is a rule that states that an offensive player must have at least one defensive player between him and the goal (not including the goalie) when a pass is made. If an individual advances too far, too quickly, he is called offside, and play is momentarily suspended. Read more
If I had watched Gun Crazy (a.k.a. Deadly is the Female) a year ago...well, okay, I would not have watched it a year ago, but if I had, I doubt I would have gotten past the first ten minutes. Read more
1More Film Blog
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In