Sands of Iwo Jima, The

There are two problems with Forces of Nature, which was written by Marc Lawrence and directed by Bronwen Hughes: the script and the stars. The script, in turn, has two problems: not enough jokes (though several of the jokes there are are good ones) and a moral tendency that pulls away from its dramatic tendency—something…

Another ghetto morality play, set in New Mexico, urging us to stay out of jail. Jail is very bad for you. Who knew?

[See “Our Childless Dystopia” in The New Atlantis of Winter, 2007, under “Articles”] Discover more from James Bowman Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email. Type your email… Subscribe

There are two perfect, transcendent moments in the Tale of Autumn, or Conte d’Automne, which is the fourth and perhaps the best of Eric Rohmer’s magisterial series, “Tales of the Four Seasons.” The first of these is when we suddenly realize that the simple story of two women, married Isabelle (Marie Rivière) and her divorced…

Nil By Mouth by Gary Oldman is a surprise. You would think that Hollywood’s favorite maniac villain — along with Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken — would have been infected with the Hollywood slicks, but here, in his first appearance as director, he is doing something altogether different — that is a sort of cinéma…

This well-made French film by Cédric Kahn re-examines the relationship between civilization and savagery. Again.