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I liked Veronica Roth's world so much, I ended up reading Insurgent on May too. I just couldn't wait to find out what was going on with the Erudite section, why did they truly attacked Abnegation. What would the other sections do about it? It was fun to see the factionless had their share in the story too! And besides all the drama, civil war and ( Read more... )

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Studding your lawn with these fluorescent gems not only gives little egg hunters a leg up, but also lends a shot of rowdy neon to a holiday otherwise characterized by polite pastels.


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Writer/director Michael Haneke strikes me as a true artist in cinema. And an exceptional one at that. Known for such unusual films as The White Ribbon, Cache', and the original Funny Games (1997), Haneke often has a way of showing us things about ourselves that we prefer not to see ( Read more... )

Despite the title, this is not simply a biographical sketch. Rather, it's an essay on back room politics, the key to Washington and democracy. Deal-cutting, horse-trading, arm-twisting are just some of the strategies involved in reaching compromise. When the stakes are history, abolishing slavery, the passion of those unseen actions is intensified ( Read more... )

Kathryn Bigelow entered the realm of elite directors when her war thriller The Hurt Locker exploded onto the Oscar scene a few years ago. Once again she proves why the critics adore her, and the movie going masses stay away. She is an expert filmmaker, a brilliant technician, though not much into the whole entertainment scene... and I love her for ( Read more... )

So many movies take advantage of our expectations and have a basis of familiarity in everything from community to setting to character personality and reactions. Every so often a movie comes along that reminds us there really is no such thing as "typical". People and communities are all different. Some are more different than others, but none I ( Read more... )

Every now and then we are reminded of just how stunning movies can be. Periodically a filmmaker proves to us that pushing the envelope of creativity still drives some auteurs. James Cameron brought us Avatar, which demonstrated that 3D technology could be beautiful and breath-taking. As beautiful and new as Cameron's breakthrough was, it lacked a ( Read more... )

One need not be a Quentin Tarantino expert to enjoy his movies, but there are a couple of things that help. First, he is at heart, a true lover of cinema and quite the film historian, showing sincere respect to the pioneers of this art form. Second, he loves to bring visibility to issues (large and small) by poking a bit of fun at the evil doers ( Read more... )