For the black filmgoer, movies like 12 Years a Slave aren’t mere popcorn fare—anger, annoyance, and vulnerability often follow when history is commodified by Hollywood.
Movies
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Royal Rumble: Academics vs. Film Critics
A Twitter tussle over Ben Urwand’s book The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler is emblematic of the battle being waged by popular critics and ivory-tower dwellers for control over the cultural narrative.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Restorative Justice’s After-School Special
The documentary Growing Fairness aims to train an army of educators set on using restorative justice instead of punishment when dealing with high-school kids.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
You’re Tearing Us Apart, Tommy!
Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s new book, The Disaster Artist, basks in the delightful weirdness of The Room and its chief architect.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Michael Bay Blows Up Detroit
What does the film industry’s relationship with the bankrupt city say about Detroit’s future?
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Shows Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Exhibit A: Ted Cruz
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Last of the Late-Term Abortion Providers
A new documentary, After Tiller, follows the only four doctors in the country who will terminate a pregnancy in its last three months.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Known Known of “The Unknown Known”? Rumsfeld Has No Regrets
Errol Morris’s documentary of the ever-chuckling, never remorseful former Defense secretary is a spellbinder.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
“Blue Jasmine” Another Black Mark
Woody Allen’s new movie is the latest evidence of how superficial he is—and how his humor and New York sensibility have lured critics and filmgoers into overlooking his shallowness.
