Movies

Arts

Oliver Stone Puts A Melodramatic Spin On 'Snowden' And The Surveillance State

1:53pm September 16, 2016

by David Edelstein

Stone's new film presents the exiled former NSA contractor as a heroic whistle-blower. Critic David Edelstein says movie's take on Snowden is entertaining — but also a bit one-sided.

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Fred Armisen and Bill Hader parody The War Room in the new season of Documentary Now!

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Documentary Now!' And Life Onscreen

12:34pm September 16, 2016

by Stephen Thompson

NPR Politics Podcast host Sam Sanders joins the gang to discuss the IFC series. Then, we each pick, watch and describe a documentary we'd never seen. And, of course, What's Making Us Happy this week.

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Movie Review: Oliver Stone's 'Snowden'

7:55am September 16, 2016

by Kenneth Turan

There has already been a high-profile documentary about Edward Snowden. Now comes a drama from a filmmaker known for dramatizing the Vietnam war and the Kennedy assassination.

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London's Bridget, falling down. Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) in Bridget Jones's Baby.

Arts

'Bridget Jones's Baby' Is High-Spirited And Playful

5:27pm September 15, 2016

by Ella Taylor

Our critic Ella Taylor loves this "generous, candid" sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, in which the now fortysomething Bridget willfully faces down new professional and romantic challenges.

A 1980 accident at a Titan II missile solo outside Little Rock, Arkansas is the focus of the documentary Command and Control.

Arts

In Chilling Documentary 'Command And Control,' A Nuclear Explosion Narrowly Avoided

5:00pm September 15, 2016

by Mark Jenkins

In 1980, a socket dropped from a worker's wrench nearly spelled nuclear disaster at a Titan II missile silo outside Little Rock, Arkansas.

One Small Step: Owen Williams and Matt Johnson in Operation Avalanche.

Arts

'Operation Avalanche': A Fake Documentary About A Faked Moon Landing

5:00pm September 15, 2016

by Andrew Lapin

A cleverly constructed but narratively sluggish mockumentary exposes a NASA conspiracy to stage Man's first steps on the moon.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner: Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia LIons(Valorie Curry) in Blair Witch.

Arts

Into The Woods, But Out Of Ideas: A Tedious, Ugly, Pointless 'Blair Witch'

5:00pm September 15, 2016

by Chris Klimek

Ding-Dong, a Witch Retread: A sequel to the "found-footage" horror sensation The Blair Witch Project never manages to find a compelling reason to exist.

Darcy (Holly Hunter) in Strange Weather.

Arts

TIFF Diary, Day 6: 'Strange Weather,' 'Manchester By The Sea' And 'Abacus'

10:13am September 14, 2016

by Linda Holmes

On her penultimate day at the Toronto International Film Festival, Linda Holmes reviews three films about family and various forms of loss.

Natalie Portman is Jackie Kennedy in the biopic Jackie.

Arts

TIFF Diary, Day 5: 'The Promise,' 'La La Land' And 'Jackie'

10:25am September 13, 2016

by Linda Holmes

On Day 5 of the Toronto International Film Festival, Linda Holmes reviews a romance set amid the Armenian genocide, a musical about Hollywood, and a Jackie Kennedy biopic.

Saroo (Dev Patel) searches for his mother in Lion.

Arts

TIFF Diary, Day 4: 'Lion,' 'A United Kingdom,' 'I Am Not Your Negro,' And More

12:12pm September 12, 2016

by Linda Holmes

On her fourth day at the Toronto International Film Festival, Linda Holmes saw five movies. Pour out some maple syrup for her. (Also reviewed: Boundaries, Just Not Married)