Battle: Los Angeles, which concerns an alien invasion of 20 cities around the world including L.A., is an updated version of 1996’s Independence Day without the humor. Read more>>

A contemporary look at the free wheeling, do it yourself, ‘no wave’ cinema production that swept through New York’s East Village during the 1970s. The problem is that the filmmakers become talking heads in a film they’d never have made. Read more

No, it’s not about Abraham Lincoln, nor set in Lincoln, Nebraska. Slick Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a facile Southern California criminal defense attorney and, ever since he lost his driver’s license, he’s been driven around Los Angeles by his chauffeur Earl (Laurence Mason) in a sleek, black Lincoln Continental that doubles as his mobile office. Hence the title. Read more

Five ventriloquists at various stages in their careers, and the dummies they use in their acts, are the lead characters featured in Mark Goffman’s documentary, Dumbstruck. The ventriloquists and their dummies are, in fact, not dumbstruck. They’re actually quite articulate about their art. Read more>>

Just looking at actor Paul Giamatti’s face evokes ‘everyman’ vulnerability, so he’s perfectly cast as Mike Flaherty, a schlubby, cash-strapped, down-on-his-luck New Jersey suburban lawyer with a wife and two young daughters to support. Read more

Director Robin Hessman, who spent the 1990s living and working in Russia, follows five Russian 30-somethings in her insightful, poignant verite portrayal of the effects of political, social and economic changes resulting from Perestroika. Read more>>

Into March’s quality wasteland at the multiplex comes this playful, provocative, literate European fable about artifice and middle-aged, second chances at romance. Read more

After those tired 2010 leftovers are about to leave our multiplexes and before summer hopefuls arrive, mid-March seems a good time to release a crime thriller. Although not a thriller in the vein of “Inception” or as pointless as “The Tourist,” “The Lincoln Lawyer” is a middle-of-the-road suspense offering with some good performances. Read more>>

Phil Ochs needed the 1960s anti-war movement, and it could be said that the 1960s movements needed Phil Ochs and the rest of the folk singers of that era. Posted on 18th March 2011
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