What ever happened to the humble vial of truth serum? A few drops of the stuff and suspects were chirpier than a colony of birds on a telephone wire. It was the epitome of spy movie interrogation technology. The real drama, of course, came from the pitting of mind vs. mind, spy vs. counterspy, in tense, unaided confrontations across a table. Now we get neural imaging devices that scan a suspect’s brain in real-time to root out deception, which is convenient as it illustrates how much technology — both real and speculative — has infiltrated our spy movies. Like the dilemma facing the intelligence services, people have given way to machines.
‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’: Welcome Back, Magic
Dismissed by many among the film cognoscenti as shallow spectacle and proclaimed a flop by the media for raking in a mere $24 million on its five-day opening weekend — Disney’s second misfire after “Prince of Persia” — “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” seems positioned for box office oblivion.
Inception: Into the Maze We Go
Handling dreams like Russian nested dolls is perhaps not, in itself, the most innovative concept given movies like “The Matrix,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
The Butcher’s Thumb: Both Up and Down
Here’s the foremost question underlying Greg Haas’ “The Butcher’s Thumb”: Does it work to excavate or exploit a wound still receptive to salt? Ten years after the 2000 elections, the country is still stuffed with Democrats and their supporters smarting, mutely, over Gore’s loss to Bush. Or, to put it bluntly, Bush’s theft of the election and the aftermath of his assuming the Presidency.
All for Dumas and Dumas for All at Theatricum
A larger-than-life story like Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure needs room for swords to clash, dastardly villains to plot and heroes to save the day. Movie adaptations of “The Three Musketeers” benefit from expansive locations and sets, along with the illusion provided by camera angles. Ellen Geer’s theatrical adaptation benefits from the outdoor amphitheatre space of the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon.
The Treasure Hunt Is on
Mike Bruce, director of the Legend of God’s Gun (http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/AcidWesternTheLegendofGodsGun), returns with Treasure of the Black Jaguar. He took a few moments to talk to me about his second feature film.
Obama, You Socialist Tyrant, Please Lead Us!
Here’s a puzzler. On one side: The Tea Party, Republicans, and what David Frum cleverly labeled the conservative entertainment industry. On the other: A nation experiencing systemic shock from the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What happens when the two meet? Enough cognitive dissonance to keep a convention full of psychiatrists chirping away like birds in a grain silo.
Dispatches from the Front Lines of Ideology: A Review of The Young Conservatives’ Field Guide’ (Part 4)
[Editor’s Note: As a non-narrative book, “The Young Conservative’s Field Guide: Facts, Charts and Figures,” by Brenton Stransky and Andrew Foy, M.D., defies the usual short review and asks instead for a more comprehensive discussion. We are pleased to provide you with that discussion in the last of four parts.]
Dispatches from the Front Lines of Ideology: A Review of The Young Conservatives’ Field Guide (Part 3)
[Editor’s Note: As a non-narrative book,” The Young Conservative’s Field Guide: Facts, Charts and Figures,” by Brenton Stransky and Andrew Foy, M.D., defies the usual short review and asks instead for a more comprehensive discussion. We are pleased to provide you with that discussion in several parts.]
Dispatches from the Front Lines of Ideology: A Review of The Young Conservatives’ Field Guide (Part 2)
[Editor’s Note: As a non-narrative book, “The Young Conservative’s Field Guide: Facts, Charts and Figures,” by Brenton Stransky and Andrew Foy, MD, defies the usual short review and asks instead for a more comprehensive discussion. We are pleased to provide you with that discussion in the second of several parts.]