Bill Cosby, Mel Gibson and Roman Polansky were among the few (corrected: the many) Hollywood bold-faced names that got trashed by British comedian and Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais ("The Office"). There was a whiff of shenanigannery to the affair, with Gervais promising that he would hold his tongue only to start lashing out at everyone before him and creating, I assume, some major discomfort

Welcome to the macabre world of the novels of Mo Hayder. THE BEAST (DE BEHANDELING in the original Belgian title), currently being released in European theaters, is a screen adaptation of a thriller written by Hayder, a British novelist whose recurring crime procedurals have captured the imagination of the genre’s amateurs. Struggling with his own demons police inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is looking

In rather surprising turn of events French film producers have lost their exhibition license for the film LA VIE D'ADELE this week. It's surprising because this is France we're talking about, not Dark Ages Saudi Arabia. Granted, the film’s exhibition cycle is long over so who cares? But the fact of a Parisian judge striking at the heart of both cinema's cultural preeminence in France, and freedom of expression, is jarring. For now it is illegal for any movie theaters in France to show this film. LA VIE, a film which features frank depictions of saphic loving’ and earned the Palme D’Or in 2013 (in my decade in Cannes, this is one of the rare films that hands down deserved the top prize)

The Cold War, which provides the historical context for Steven Spielberg's new film BRIDGE OF SPIES, is one of modern history's more stupid phases (BRIDGE OF SPIES is based on real historical events), a Thanksgiving Day parade of hypocrites high on reefer-madness paranoia about the other guy. That era gave us doctrines, an arms race, the constant threat of mutually-assured destruction and a movie franchise

Ever since his Silver Bear win earlier this year at Berlin Jayro Bustamante's IXCANUL (pronounced eesh-kanool) has garnered about fifteen different awards and distinctions. This good year gave Bustamante, a filmmaker from Guatemala, some much-needed exposure and, hopefully, even-better means to make another film soon. In IXCANUL Maria, 17, lives on the slopes of an active volcano. An arranged marriage is

KILLING THEM SAFELY, a new documentary (100 min.) out in theaters since yesterday, paints a controversial picture of the taser gun industry--namely, one industry since all of the world's taser guns are manufactured by one outfit called Taser International. The film, written and directed by Nick Berardini, raises the proverbial question of whether taser guns are safer than traditional guns. Berardini looks at safety

The storyline of "MacBeth" can be resumed to the following: Macbeth is a man obsessed by ambition. Done!

Scotland is in the throes of civil war, the background goes, and the survival of King Duncan's reign depends on one last battle with the loyal Macbeth commanding his troops [DID YOU KNOW? There are 420 different screen adaptations of the works of Shakespeare, including ones made by Akira Kurosawa and Roman Polanski.]