By Sandy English, WSWS.ORG
Thank you, WSWS.ORG
Kramer in 1985 at The New Criterion, which he helmed from its early days.
Hilton Kramer, the well-known American art critic and founder of the neoconservative cultural journal The New Criterion, died last month at the age of 84.
Kramer wrote extensively about painting and sculpture, as well as literature and politics. For over 50 years, he spoke for some of the most retrograde forces in American culture. Discrediting the impact that socialism and the mass political struggles of the early 20th century had on modern art was his specialty. [See here the sendoff the New York Times gives this fellow.]
Read more…
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A presentation by WSWS arts editor David Walsh
Tom Cruise as paraplegic Vietvet Ron Kovic, in Oliver Stone’s Born on the 4th of July, one of the best films ever made on that conflict. Too bad Cruise learned nothing from the character he interpreted. —Eds
By David Walsh (16 March 2010)
The following is an edited version of a presentation delivered by WSWS arts editor David Walsh in New York City and the Detroit area. (The second, and concluding, part of the talk ran on Wednesday, March 17, 2010).
When one considers the state of filmmaking, and art in general, one’s first response is, or ought to be, in my view, a profound sense of dissatisfaction. The spectator, or reader, or viewer, currently experiences a troubling lack of depth, texture, and social and psychological complexity. In short, there is an absence of the world, largely. Read more…
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By Joanne Laurier, film critic, WSWS.ORG
Thank you, WSWS.ORG
In Darkness
In Darkness, directed by Agnieszka Holland, screenplay by David F. Shamoon, based on the book by Robert Marshall; Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, directed by Lasse Hallström, screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel by Paul Torday
In Darkness chronicles the harrowing story of Polish Jews who hid for 14 months, until the end of the war, in the sewers of the then-Polish city of Lvov. Based on a book by Robert Marshall that compiled memoirs of the survivors, veteran Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s gripping film dramatizes the plight of a band of Jews who escaped into the network of tunnels in 1943, enduring, with the help of a sewer worker, the waste, darkness and despair. Read more…
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Editor’s Note: The World Socialist Web Site recently reposted an article originally published on January 30, 1998. Given the climate of megamedia noise surrounding these productions these days this critique, by David Walsh, one of America’s finest movie reviewers, is damn worth a read.—PG
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By David Walsh, Art & Cinema critic, WSWS.ORG, a socialist organization
Titanic, the Hollywood blockbuster directed by James Cameron and originally released in December 1997, is set for theatrical re-release in 3-D on April 4, to mark the centenary of its namesake’s setting sail on April 10, 1912. The original film was a great success at the box office, and with a surprising number of critics as well. It went on undeservedly to win a number of Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Titanic was one of the first films reviewed by the WSWS, launched in early 1998, and our critique generated a considerable response from readers. We are reposting today our original review posted January 30, 1998, and a further comment that followed. Read more…
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by Stephen Lendman
Malevolent Oskar and his drum. A masterful metaphor.
Writer, poet, playwright, sculptor, artist, and Nobel laureate Grass is regarded as Germany’s most celebrated author.
Awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy said his “frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history.” It credited his first novel, “The Tin Drum,” with restoring honor to German literature “after decades of linguistic and moral destruction.”
It “comes to grips with the enormous task of reviewing contemporary history by recalling the disavowed and the forgotten: the victims, losers and lies that people wanted to forget because they had once believed in them.” Read more…
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By Christine Schofelt and David Walsh
This article appeared in the World Socialist Web Site, a socialist organization.
Thank you, World Socialist Web Site.
28 March 2012
Directed by Gary Ross, written by Ross, Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray, based on a novel by Collins
The Hunger Games opened this weekend to record-breaking box office figures. Friday alone brought in $68 million, and by Sunday morning, according to Deadline.com, Lionsgate had “revised upwards its worldwide total to a massive $214.25 million.”
The Hunger Games
Based on the first book in a popular trilogy for young readers by Suzanne Collins, also a co-writer of the screenplay, The Hunger Games (directed by Gary Ross) depicts a future North America now named Panem and divided into 12 districts, in which a popular uprising has been violently quashed decades before. A thirteenth district was entirely wiped out in the repression. Read more…
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By Rob Kall
Incredibly bizarre, bad taste “citizens” make up the elite of the world of Hunger Games.
The theater was filled with teenagers, but to me, Hunger Games is more than a hot movie. It’s a media phenomenon, fueled by sales of over 26 million copies of the first three books in the series. I was not to be disappointed. First, though I tried, the Imax version of the show was sold out. So I had to see the old fashioned 2-D version. It was still worth it
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The movie is very long, two hours and 22 minutes. But it is also riveting and moves fast.
Most important, it has lessons to tell, and since its main audience is teenagers, and young adults, I’m glad to say it’s a message that tells some important truths. Unlike the Twilight series, another cinematic trilogy that teens have thronged to, this movie is attracting the approval of people on the left and the right.
From my perspective, even the messages that the right approves are good ones.
For the left, Hunger Games portrays an unjustice system where 24 12-18 year olds a year are forced to fight to the death. They can volunteer or they are drafted, two from each of twelve districts. The main protagonist Katniss Everdeen volunteers to rescue her 12 year old sister, who’s been drafted. Read more… Did you like this? Share it:
