Beyond the Multiplex

Posts in August 2008

August 1
The stolen election of 2004: Chapter 53
"Stealing America" airs out the same old questions (and conspiracy theories) about the murky Bush-Kerry election. But it avoids the really scary stuff.
August 5
It all started with the Germs
A loving, low-budget film tries to revive the undead spirit of Darby Crash and L.A.'s most anarchic punk pioneers. But some things aren't easy to resurrect.
August 6
Jesus died for somebody's sins ... but not hers
A dazzling, dizzying documentary captures rock pioneer Patti Smith during her comeback years, surrounded by death and life.
August 7
The art world's Pepsi Generation
"Beautiful Losers" chronicles the art rebels of the '90s, fueled by punk, skateboarding, graffiti and trash culture. Now brought to you by Nike!
August 8
"Elegy" for a topless bombshell
Penélope Cruz gets art-history naked and Ben Kingsley is diamond-brilliant in an overly pretty film adaptation of Philip Roth's "Dying Animal."
August 11
Is torture an Olympic event?
After 33 years of abuse and imprisonment, one Tibetan monk says no to the Beijing Olympics -- and to the Dalai Lama's accommodation with tyranny.
August 13
See Tarantino's next movie right now (sort of)
Eager to catch the ultraviolent WWII shootout "Inglorious Bastards," loaded with blaxploitation beefcake and naked chicks? Come on over!
August 14
An actress cut in two
French sex symbol Ludivine Sagnier on passion, perversion and her new film "A Girl Cut in Two." (Please, don't call it a porn movie.)
August 15
Scarlett and Penélope do Barcelona
Can a sapphic love scene between Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz make Woody Allen seem relevant again?
A French master's farewell to love
Eric Rohmer's pastoral Renaissance fantasy, "The Romance of Astrea and Celadon," couldn't be a weirder, or lovelier, way to say goodbye.
August 20
Portrait of the artist as a fallen angel
Indie hero Azazel Jacobs talks about casting his own parents -- and their eccentric, amazing New York apartment -- in his entrancing breakthrough film "Momma's Man."
August 21
One devastating home movie
As the floodwaters rose in New Orleans, "street hustler" Kim Roberts turned on her camera -- and captured a story more thrilling than any Hollywood blockbuster.
August 22
The man who rocks sexy Jesus
A superstar in Britain, comedian Steve Coogan hopes to ramp up his mojo with the high-school-drama farce "Hamlet 2."
August 26
Before Bergman and "The Crucible"
Carl Dreyer's erotic witch-hunt drama "Day of Wrath," made in Nazi-occupied Denmark, resurfaces with shattering clarity after a digital restoration.
August 28
The ultimate Japanese Shakespeare spaghetti western!
Takashi Miike's "Sukiyaki Western Django" offers a spectacular mashup of Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, Tarantino and the Bard -- and it's weirder than that sounds.
August 29
I married a Nazi -- the comedy
Czech master Jirí Menzel's black comedy about a lovable innocent turned Nazi collaborator is a work of nettlesome genius. Will anybody notice?
Gone fishin'! Back soon -- here's what awaits
Alan Ball, the Coens, a re-release of the greatest film of the '70s and a tribute to Britain's most important filmmaker -- and I'm on vacation!
A lovable pervert at your window
Weekend roundup: The noble peeping Tom hero of "Mister Foe," Truffaut's delectable Parisian noir "Shoot the Piano Player" and more.
A Jewish family's hidden shame
Claude Miller's wrenching "A Secret" distills the French nation's Nazi-era guilt into one family's incredible-but-true wartime story.
Indie film's new, globalized realism
Do low-budget American films like "The Pool" (made in Hindi) and "August Evening" (made in Spanish) signal a new wave of cultural exploration, or just hipster tourism?

Wayne Wang on "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers"

About Beyond the Multiplex

Andrew O'Hehir's independent film blog offers reviews, news and interviews. Subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or RSS.

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