Over the 78 minutes of his documentary, Stone sketches a broad overview of Chavez’s “Bolivarian” revolution that seeks to expel the United States and the International Monetary Fund from the region. On top of that, Stone is trying to provide a corrective to the mainstream media’s demonization of Chavez and other left-leaning leaders in the region. In an exclusive interview, Stone said, this is a “big picture of big changes,” made by a big director against big media. read more »

For city dwellers in summertime, movie theaters are the ultimate indoor oasis. Dark and cool, they save us from New York’s humidity, noise and crowds — and there are plenty of non-blockbuster movie venues to counter the worst effects of summer. These are highlights from their summer programming. read more »

For the most part, Exit Through the Gift Shop follows Thierry Guetta, a French amateur cameraman with long sideburns that merge with his mustache from under a fedora. The owner of a vintage clothing shop in Los Angeles, Guetta is an obsessive recorder who shoots practically every moment of his life on video, collecting tape after tape, without ever watching them. read more »

The vibrant, exciting—and quite illegal—underground music scene in Tehran is the real star of No One Knows About Persian Cats, the stereotype-shattering new film by Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi. read more »

In 1996, only two years after Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa, acclaimed filmmaker Connie Field began working on an epic seven-part documentary series about the global campaign to end the racist apartheid regime that plagued the country for more than four decades. read more »

“Mussolini Killed in Northern Italy!” trumpeted the April 30, 1945, New York Times, adding, in a sub-headline, “Mistress Killed with Him.” Buried in the story was a brief mention of “his wife, Rachele.” There was no mention of any other wife. read more »

Vincere Directed by Marco Bellocchio A Production of Celluloid Dreams, et al., 2009 In Italian “Mussolini Killed in Northern Italy!” trumpeted the April 30, 1945, New York Times, adding, in a sub-headline, “Mistress Killed with Him.” Buried in the story was a brief mention of “his wife, Rachele.” There was no mention of any other wife. It’s now widely accepted, [...] read more »

“Oscar” is getting older—this year marks the 82nd awards ceremony for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But movie lovers will have to wait until March 7 to find out whether or not he has, in fact, become wiser. read more »

Under what rock have you been hiding to miss the storm around James Cameron’s environmental parable, Avatar? Certainly not beneath a hunk of unobtanium: it floats. read more »

read more »