Robin Wright Penn and Alan Arkin in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Look back in wonderBy Miranda Inganni  Stepping forward in cinematic quality, actor turned writer-director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity; The Ballad of Jack and Rose) has made her best film yet, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.  Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) and her publishing mogul husband, Herb Lee (Alan Arkin), have just relocated from New York City to a retirement community in a quiet suburb in Connecticut. H... Read Full Story

Rock icon Paul Stanley at Honda Center. Photo by Felipe Gamboa. Kiss at 35 By Carlin NguyenLive pyrotechnics and gnarly special effects were the norm as the band, Kiss, came into Anaheim, California to perform at Honda Center last night.In front of an estimated 15,000 attendees, the dynamic quartet of Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar, vocals), Gene Simmons (bass guitar, backing vocals), Tommy Thayer (lead guitar, vocals) and Eric Singer (drums, vocals) came and rocked the stage for "KISS Alive 35"... Read Full Story

Seth Green, John Travolta and Robin Williams get ruff in Old Dogs. Put me down, please  By Miranda InganniWhen two men in their 50s suddenly discover one is the father of 7-year-old twins, hilarity could ensue. But not in the case of Disney's Old Dogs.Dan (Robin Williams) and Charlie (John Travolta) have been best friends and business partners for decades.  While Dan can't get over the love of his life, Vicki (Kelly Preston), a woman he met and drunkenly married for 24 hours, C... Read Full Story

The struggle for the planet's poor marches on. Kill the poorBy Don SimpsonPhilippe Diaz’s documentary (narrated by Martin Sheen) The End of Poverty? sets out to prove that worldwide poverty is by no means an accident – it was created and is being perpetuated by the western world. Diaz calls upon experts from around the globe to dutifully illustrate the connections between colonialism and the free market system of today.In 1492 (while Columbus was sailing the ocean blue…) the Spanish and ... Read Full Story

The End of Poverty? Director Phillip Diaz.Food for thoughtBy Ed RampellThe End of Poverty? is a kind of bookend to Capitalism: A Love Story. If Michael Moore’s movie examines how private enterprise operates at home, writer-director Philippe Diaz’s documentary explores what happens when that economic system is exported to the Third World. As scathing exposes of exploitation these nonfiction films share much -- ironic titles, onscreen social critics and most importantly, the down and out are re... Read Full Story

Director Kirk Jones, Kate Beckinsale, Robert De Niro, and Drew Barrymore attend the AFI Fest 2009 gala screening of Everybody's Fine. Photo by Ed Rampell.For more images of AFI Fest 2009, go to http://jestherentimages.blogspot.com/ Read Full Story

A scene from writer-director Karin Albou's The Wedding Song.A View of One’s OwnBy John EstherContinuing to explore sexuality and relationships against a community backdrop, Karin Albou’s The Wedding Song (Le Chant des Mariées) breaks barriers.The follow up to her excellent feature debut, Little Jerusalem (La Petite Jerusalem), director-writer-actor Albou moves her latest film from a micro-community of contemporary Paris to Tunis, Tunisia, 1942, where poor Jews and Arabs live together with eas... Read Full Story

Screwge this remakeBy John EstherAngry by recent Wall Street events of grand greed and government complicity, one of Hollywood's most reactionary artists, Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future; Forrest Gump), has turned his newfound socialism and channeled it into a cold critique of capitalism worthy of Gang of Four.I jest, there is nothing contemporary or cool about the latest cinematic adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Presented in Disney Digital 3D, A Christmas Carol stars a ... Read Full Story

The Oscar race has begun? Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire opens tomorrow. Trials and tribulations in the hyper-real ghettoBy Don SimpsonSet in Harlem, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire is the heart wrenching tale of Clareece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), an obese, illiterate, abused and molested 16-year-old African-American girl.Impregnated for the second time by her otherwise absentee father, Precious is expelled from high school; but her principal, who re... Read Full Story

Lizzie Brocheré and Olympe Borval star in Karin Albou's The Wedding Song. Give peace a chanceBy Don SimpsonFrom November 1942 to May 1943 German forces occupied Tunis, which was the Axis powers’ final stronghold in Africa before retreating to Italy. Previously occupied by the French, Tunis was a relatively welcome home for Jews. The German occupation changed that.Writer-director Karin Albou's The Wedding Song (Le chant des mariées) begins in 1942, prior to the German occupation. Sephardic Jew... Read Full Story