SELMA
By Stephen Farber
The civil rights movement has of course been treated in books, documentaries, and television films, but surprisingly few feature films have plumbed this rich history. The battle for equality spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been touched on indirectly in such films as The Long Walk Home, Mississippi Burning, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Now Ava DuVernay’s Selma, as the title suggests, tackles the subject head-on—and, more importantly, does it justice. …
By Stephen Farber
Disney has created something of its own genre of inspirational sports movies. The Rookie, Miracle, and Million Dollar Arm were earlier examples, some more successful than others. Now McFarland, USA can be added to the list, and it turns out to be an engaging variation on a very familiar theme, with promising box office prospects.
The film honors some of the parameters of the genre—underdog team rallies as it moves toward victory—while adding some …
Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee has only made half a dozen films, but they demonstrate extraordinary range. Many directors specialize in one genre, but Vallee has plunged into wildly disparate arenas. He went from a coming-of-age story called C.R.A.Z.Yto a lush historical epic, The Young Victoria. Last year’s Oscar-winning film, Dallas Buyers Club, explored a little known part of the history of the AIDS epidemic. Now inWild, based on a best-selling memoir by Cheryl Strayed, Vallee …
Can a superbly crafted film overcome audience resistance to an extremely painful subject? That is a question that Warner Bros. will be pondering nervously as Prisoners moves from its festival screenings during the next week to a wide national release later in September. The movie deals with the abduction of two young children and the havoc that this trauma wreaks on the families and police officers investigating the crime. While the subject has been in …
Although the subject of Arab-Israeli tensions has figured in many recent films, The Attack manages to find a unique and compelling slant on a well worn theme. The latest film from Lebanese-born director Ziad Doueiri (Lila Says, West of Beirut) brings a pointed human focus to a subject drenched in anguish. This picture may face some resistance from audiences because of the painful subject matter, but it rewards attention.
The film begins on a deceptively quiet …
