Grand Illusion Grand Illusion
The story may have been set in World War I, but it was the specter of fascism that loomed over Renoir's masterpiece.
Jan 1, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Richard Griffith
Metropolis Metropolis
Long before Orwell envisioned 1984, Fritz Lang depicted 2026 as a battleground between workers and capitalists beneath an Art Deco city
Jan 1, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Evelyn Gerstein
The Uneasy Documentary Vision of Susan Meiselas The Uneasy Documentary Vision of Susan Meiselas
A new exhibit explores the remarkably sophisticated wellspring of social, political and ethical deliberation of Susan Meiselas' photography.
Dec 31, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Paul Roth
2008: The Year in Review 2008: The Year in Review
The economic meltdown, the presidential candidates, Eliot Spitzer and much more get parodied to the tune of a popular children's rhyme.
Crossfire Crossfire
Hollywood turns a novel about a gay murder into a call to action against anti-Semitism. Homophobia would have to wait.
Dec 29, 2008 / Books & the Arts / James Agee
Pinter: Bare-Knuckled Citizen Playwright Pinter: Bare-Knuckled Citizen Playwright
In the end, Harold Pinter devoted himself to defining "the real truth of our lives and our societies." Now that he's gone, his twenty-nine plays will continue that rude, honorable ...
Dec 27, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Margaret Spillane
Eartha Kitt: An Anti-War Patriot Eartha Kitt: An Anti-War Patriot
Forty years ago, America’s cultural icons expressed the frustration of the American people with the failure of then-President Lyndon Johnson to end this country’s undec…
Dec 26, 2008 / Blog / John Nichols
Double Indemnity Double Indemnity
Before he was the perfect TV dad, Fred MacMurray was Billy Wilder's favorite movie heavy.
Dec 23, 2008 / Books & the Arts / James Agee
It Happened One Night It Happened One Night
What happened was Clark Gable doffed his shirt to reveal his bare chest, prompting the second great crash of the Depression: in undershirt sales.
Dec 23, 2008 / Books & the Arts / William Troy
For Whom the Bell Tolls For Whom the Bell Tolls
Some feared a film of Hemingway's novel about the Spanish Civil War would take too strong a stance against fascism. They didn't know Hollywood.
Dec 23, 2008 / Books & the Arts / James Agee