Movies >>

Features

The plots thicken

9/11 Truthers, Tea Parties, Birthers — conspiracy is in the air. No wonder Hollywood is embracing paranoia.
Eight years after the destruction of the World Trade Center — the result of one of the most devastatingly successful conspiracies in history — Americans still take comfort in paranoia.

By PETER KEOUGH | September 11, 2009

First look at James Cameron's Avatar

Titanic Gamble
James Cameron captained the biggest box-office smash of all time, his Titanic having grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide. But that was 12 years ago, long before the recession appeared on anyone's radar.

By BRETT MICHEL | August 26, 2009

Interview: Quentin Tarantino

The director talks Basterds
Quentin Tarantino began writing the screenplay for Inglourious Basterds more than 10 years ago. When I got him on the phone, he talked about the film's long gestation and how he chose his actors.

By KAM WILLIAMS | August 18, 2009

Interview: Judd Apatow

On the making of his Citizen Kane
Behind every successful comedian, there's . . . a personal assistant. Who, given how egomaniacal and utterly misanthropic the funnyman in question is, is probably his best friend, too.

By LANCE GOULD | July 29, 2009

(10) days of celluloid

From the gridiron to gritty realism at the Maine International Film Festival
Among the many treats at last year's Maine International Film Festival were a future Oscar winner (James Marsh's documentary Man on Wire ) and one of the biggest art-house hits of 2008 (Scandinavian teen-vampire flick Let the Right One In ).

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | July 08, 2009

Where everyone knows your name

A conversation with the owners of Caiola's
A conversation with the owners of Caiola's

By LEISCHEN STELTER | June 24, 2009

Power through peace

In exile, Burmese monks still carry the torch
Now is a critical time for democracy's worldwide battle against totalitarianism. Rioters in Iran are disputing the outcome of a possibly stolen presidential election. North Korea has sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor for allegedly crossing the border into the closed country from China.

By JEFF INGLIS | June 18, 2009

19-hour drives

A chat with director Aron Gaudet
An interview with Aron Gaudet

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | June 10, 2009

Festival atmosphere

Between the Blockbuster and the beach there are the film festivals of New England
Summer traditionally has been the happy hunting ground for Hollywood studios — the time when they unleash their big-budgeted, f/x-heavy warhorses on armies of newly freed schoolchildren and frazzled adults trying to beat the heat.

By PETER KEOUGH | June 09, 2009

Keep your skin on

Grilling fish whole is a tasty variation
Skinless, boneless cuts of fish are convenient — you don't have to clean them yourself — but getting rid of those "extras" takes away a lot of flavor, and a lot of the nutrition, too. Good news! It's easy to grill whole fish, and they make a great centerpiece for summer cookouts.

By TODD RICHARD | May 27, 2009

Creative manifesto

Capturing Portland's collaborative spirit, with $90 and a borrowed car
"Is it fair to say we're a Marxist city in spirit if not law?"

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | May 27, 2009

Cannes goods

Tarantino, Antichrist , and a well-lit genitalia show; why the French film festival is like no other
Quick — name a world-class film-festival administrator willing to reveal that at age 12 he was titillated by the sight of clodhopper-shod Minnie Mouse stomping on Mickey's tail in a French comic book.

By LISA NESSELSON | May 27, 2009

Interview: Pete Docter

3-D or not 3-D? That is the first question . . .
Pete Docter was only the third animator to come aboard Pixar when he joined up in 1990, and he's had a lasting effect at the computer-animation powerhouse.

By BRETT MICHEL | May 21, 2009

Cannes International Film Festival 2009

62nd Festival de Cannes
The latest dispatches and reviews from one of the world's most influential film festivals

By LISA NESSELSON | May 19, 2009

Food unfarmed

Pollan and Schlosser, on message, in Food, Inc.
Following in the Peabody Award-winning footsteps of Aaron Wolf's congenial, informative documentary King Corn, Robert Kenner's omnibus agri-doc Food, Inc . offers a bleaker portrait of America's food economy at this year's Food+Farm event series, centered at SPACE Gallery from May 7 to 10.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | May 13, 2009

Dancing with himself

Arthur Russell's posthumous renaissance
Arthur Russell's music does little to illuminate the mysteries and vagaries of his life. It simply tosses them aside, in pursuit of moods and rhythms few have successfully replicated, two decades later.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | April 22, 2009

Observe and distort

Jody Hill on the King of Comedy and Seth Rogen
Great filmmaker though he is, Martin Scorsese isn't the first name that comes to mind when you think about comedy genius. But Jody Hill, traces his inspiration in part back to his first viewing of Taxi Driver .

By PETER KEOUGH | April 08, 2009

After The Daytrippers . . .

Mottola explains
Greg Mottola didn't make a film for 11 years after his 1997 debut feature, The Daytrippers, caused a small ripple in the indie world.

By PETER KEOUGH | March 31, 2009

Escaping the life

Counseling New York's exploited Very Young Girls
Like the drug dealers in The Wire or accounts of illegal trafficking of any form, the current and former teenage prostitutes in David Schisgall's documentary Very Young Girls don't often refer to their trade as a job.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | March 25, 2009