Film

French theorists used to employ the term “pure cinema” to describe film as an entirely new art form of moving images. It struck directly at the senses and created its own experience, without reliance on older forms like literature, painting, music or photography. The theory provided the

One need not be one of those bloated bloviators of talk radio to rush to the judgment that political correctness and ethnic sensitivity can be carried to comic, even tragic, extremes at times. Philip Roth, an author of solid liberal credentials, explored the dark side of planet P.C. in his splendid

Trust receives no flag-draped coffin, no posthumous medals and stirring eulogies, but it has ever been a tragic casualty of war, and we have been in a state of war for nearly a century now. Words lose their meaning, and covenants prove hollow. What political leader can we believe? Who from the busin

Suicide and martyrdom have become our constant companions in this dark new century. We’ve settled comfortably into explaining the phenomenon in terms of extremism or fanaticism. We place the blame securely on tribal and religious traditions gone terribly wrong in the minds of some few who woul

Suppose Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib are not merely momentary aberrations, but rather preludes to even stronger responses to the threat of terrorism. After all, in a very short time, we’ve become used to teams of guards in black coveralls carrying automatic rifles as they patrol our airpor

Thirty-plus years of doing this column have given me quite a high tolerance for awful stuff, but Apocalypto nearly beat me. After an hour, it took sheer will power to keep me in my seat. Yes, most early reviews of the film have been positive, but not ecstatic, so perhaps the problem rests in the eye