Articles tagged "maggie gyllenhaal"

Film Review

Away We Go

by Tricia Olszewski

[12.Jun.09] :. Away We Go is breezy and summer-appropriate -- but its central couple still has problems.

Recent Film reviews

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview Feature

Summer of Same: June 2009

by Bill Gibron

[28.Apr.09] :. This month's "original" fare offers a take on a Sid and Marty Krofft classic, more battling seizure robots, and the retaking of '70s subway thriller. Everything old is new again.

The PopMatters Summer 2009 Movie Preview

Short Ends and Leader

Psycho Smackdown: ‘Watchmen’‘s Rorschach vs. ‘The Dark Knight’‘s Joker

by Bill Gibron

[4.Mar.09] :. This time next year, if there is any justice left in this baffling business called show, Jackie Earle Haley will be reaping the same kind of universal accolades that followed the late Heath Ledger...

Short Ends and Leader

News

Backstage at the Oscars: Heath Ledger’s family discusses win

by Barry Koltnow [The Orange County Register (MCT)]

[23.Feb.09] :. HOLLYWOOD - Heath Ledger’s sister Kate knew all along. She told us backstage that her brother had been sending her photos from the set of “The Dark Knight.”  “When he...

PopWire

News

Academy’s snubbing of ‘The Dark Knight’ is a crime

by Christopher Kelly [McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)]

[19.Feb.09] :. It conjured up a complex and detailed alternate universe. It featured one of the most convincing portraits of wanton evil ever seen in an American film. Its vision of an upside-down political system...

PopWire

Film Feature

Superheroes Versus Comics

by shathley Q

[27.Jan.09] :. There can be no doubt that the summer of 2008 stands as a high-water mark for superheroes. But in the wake of a superhero renaissance and the growing cultural legitimacy of the genre, the question must be posed: Has the superhero genre evolved beyond the comics medium?

Recent features

Oscars ignore ‘The Dark Knight,’ except for Ledger nomination

by Colin Covert [Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)]

[23.Jan.09] :. It was a dark day for “The Dark Knight” as the 81st annual Oscar nominations, announced Thursday, snubbed the most popular film since “Titanic.” Christopher Nolan’s...

The New Classics - The 30 Best Films of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[16.Jan.09] :. Unlike previous years, where classics came crawling out of the celluloid woodwork with regular reckless abandon, 2008 was more calm… and considered. That's not to say that choosing 30 top titles was hard. The difficulty in placing them in some manner of rank order suggests the actual depth of quality involved.

Iconic - The Top 20 Male Performances of 2008

by PopMatters Staff

[14.Jan.09] :. Like the gladiators of old, 2008 resembles a battle of formidable acting gods, especially when looking over the 20 choices presented below. Indeed, if anything, choosing a winner requires more of a leap of faith than any amount of critical skill - they all were that good.

Let Us Now Praise Ordinary Men: Normalcy, Comics, and The Dark Knight

by Chris Barsanti

[23.Sep.08] :. Without a couple of recognizably fallible and ordinary men like Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon at its center, The Dark Knight would ultimately be nothing more than an exceptionally well-tooled and smartly-acted thriller.

How to play at being a villain: Bardem, Ledger reignite media interest in craft of acting

by Joe Williams [St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MCT)]

[14.Aug.08] :. The verdict is nearly unanimous: As the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” Heath Ledger gives a great performance. But what exactly does that mean? As we watch a movie, the mysterious alchemy...

Pop 20: Super hero formula evolving

by Aaron Sagers [(MCT)]

[30.Jul.08] :. In only 10 days, the Batman defeated the Joker, delivered a one-two punch to Harvey Dent and amassed more than $300 million at the box office. But despite the enormous success of “The Dark...

Batmassive: The Meaning of $300 Million

by Bill Gibron

[28.Jul.08] :. It only took 10 days. Less than two weeks. It remains a stunning accomplishment. It took Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest 16 days to get there. It took the overly hyped third...

The Dark Knight

by Cynthia Fuchs

[17.Jul.08] :. Batman's dilemma in The Dark Knight is how to use his bad press, whether he will embrace it or continue to fight it.

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: July 2008

by Bill Gibron

[30.Apr.08] :. And it just doesn't stop. If part two in this three-ring play was packed with well hyped product, July just keeps the receipt treats coming.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

by Jack Patrick Rodgers

[8.Mar.07] :. Stranger than Fiction isn’t sure if it wants to be a comedy that relies on stereotypes in order to accentuate the humor, or a drama with the absurdities played as deadpan as possible.

Trust the Man (2005)

by Matt Mazur

[8.Feb.07] :. Trust the Man is definitely enjoyable: as one of the guiltiest of pleasures that you only watch at home during the cold, dark winter, with the curtains drawn, alone and in shame with a whole bag of potato chips.

Sherrybaby (2006)

by Bruce Dancis [McClatchy Newspapers]

[30.Jan.07] :. Maggie Gyllenhaal lays it on the line in Sherrybaby.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[10.Nov.06] :. Maybe Professor Hilbert knows exactly how right he is, given the film's relentless archness: it knows that you know that it knows it's meta.

The Great New Wonderful (2005)

by Jesse Hassenger

[8.Sep.06] :. This 9/11 film is subtle to a fault; this is a quality you may not expect in a film from Danny Leiner, master of the vehicular stoner comedy.

Trust the Man (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[18.Aug.06] :. Trust the Man is primarily focused on women trusting men, because the men find it nearly impossible to trust each other.

The Great New Wonderful (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[17.Aug.06] :. Lack of understanding will be a sort of theme for Danny Leiner's film, uneven but full of rewarding subtleties.

World Trade Center (2006)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[9.Aug.06] :. While the survivors lie within this well of shadows and shards, the film shows tv viewers around the world, briefly united in horror and incredulity, watching iconic CNN footage.

Happy Endings (2005)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Jul.05] :. Happy Endings begins with what seems quite an unhappy ending, when Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) is hit by a car.

Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut (2001)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[17.Feb.05] :. The problem embodied by Donnie is at once mundane and painfully special, the dilemma of fate vs. free will, laced though with unanswered questions of identity and responsibility.

Casa de los Babys (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[3.May.04] :. The movie, which focuses on a group of U.S. women arrived in an unidentified Latin American country to adopt children, is as much about cultural imperialism and racism as it is about women and babies.

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[15.Mar.04] :. Berkley-educated, Katherine is a 'forward thinker,' a 'bohemian' who believes that education opens doors.

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[18.Dec.03] :. Katherine has her hands full, even aside from looking for romance (though this happens too, as this is, after all, a Julia Roberts movie).

Adaptation (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[28.May.03] :. Careens between fiction and confession, repetition and revelation.

Adaptation (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[6.Dec.02] :. Careens between fiction and confession, repetition and revelation.

Secretary (2002)

by Cynthia Fuchs

[26.Sep.02] :. Secretary is about anxiety, depression, the inability to communicate.