Critic's Notebook

Critic's Notebook: From 'Hard Times' To This Week's 'Bullet to the Head,' How Walter Hill's Movies Tap Into the Essence of New Orleans

Critic's Notebook: The Biggest Oscar Snub Isn't Kathryn Bigelow; It's Jafar Panahi

When the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday morning, pundits immediately centered on one notable omission: Kathryn Bigelow. While "Zero Dark Thirty" landed nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, Bigelow's immersive account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden clearly took a ...

Critic's Notebook: With 'Unknown Pleasures,' A German Perspective On U.S. Indie Film

Critic's Notebook: Was Caveh Zahedi "Blacklisted" By Thom Powers? It's More Complicated Than That

The latest provocation from performance artist/filmmaker Caveh Zahedi, "The Sheik and I," began as a short film illustrating "art as a subversive act." While it was bound to push some buttons, no one could have predicted the series of conflicts it would create.

Critic's Notebook: Is Barack Obama a Bigger Movie Star Than Brad Pitt?

Obama often invokes Ronald Reagan as both a communicator and a pragmatic political actor skilled in leading executive compromise, but their presentational modes couldn't be more different. So what does "Killing Them Softly" have to say about the recently re-elected president?

Critic's Notebook: Why 2012 Is A Banner Year For Found Footage Films

In 2012, found footage took a few promising steps out of the horror genre.

Critic's Notebook: How 'The Man With the Iron Fists' Proves We No Longer Need 'Star Wars'

At a screening hosted by the Museum of the Moving Image Thursday, rapper-turned-filmmaker RZA claimed his first inspiration came not from the martial arts movie but from watching "Star Wars." "I believed there was a galaxy far, far away where I could go," he says. "But instead, I went to Brooklyn."

Critic's Notebook: What Filmmaker John Akomfrah's Work Tells Us About the Present By Way of the Past

True to his post-colonial interests, Akomfrah's work blurs and re-imagines the distinction between video art and cinema. While his conceptual rigor and semantic preoccupations suit the immersive spaces of video art/installation, his lyricism calls for the scope of the big screen.

Critic's Notebook: What Does Iran's Oscar Boycott Mean For the Future of Iranian Cinema?

After the Iranian film "A Separation" won an Oscar last year, many people eagerly awaited the country's Oscar submission for 2013. But the sudden impact of the anti-Islamic movie "The Innocence of Muslims" ruined everything.