Remember Persepolis, the graphic novel which was adapted into a feature film, both created by French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi and her partner-in-crime Vincent Paronnaud? Satrapi has made a new movie, set for release in August, called Chicken with Plums. 1958, Tehran: Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the renowned musicians of his time, is giving up on living. Finding no comparable instrument

Angelina Jolie, star extraordinaire, deserves an A for effort in directing In the Land of Blood and Honey. Not only does she care about the war-torn ex-Yugoslavia she shows but she throws herself fully into the making of the film. Red carpet photo-op and possible awards don’t seem part of the equation. This is a serious story told in as professional and honest a manner as possible. But the end result? A “C plus”--maybe . It may not be Jolie’s fault, pro-

While the blogosphere is lighting up with talk of the new Prometheus trailer (which looks really cool, by the way) I’ve been trying to find new information about Spring Breakers, a Harmony Korine-helmed film currently in production. It's about a group of girlfriends who rob a restaurant in order to pay for a vacation at the beach. The choice of the actors defies expectations: Emma Roberts, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, all of which

The fabulous Vanessa Hudgens is hardly the up-and-coming actor you’d expect to find in this column. She’s already a platinum-selling recording artist and has had several enviable roles in major studio productions. Hudgens, who’s less than thirty, has also been profiled by Forbes Magazine as part of their highest-earning young stars ranking. But her upcoming appearance in a movie currently being shot by America’s renegade filmmaker Harmony Korine should give this lovely young actor some indie cred and a chance to get cast in broader roles. The thrilla from Manila (Hudgens is part Filipina and part Irish) is best known for her portrayal of the character Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series. She started acting

21 Jump Street yields three solid chuckles in one-hundred-nine minutes of running time, which is simply inexcusable. Though engineered by human beings (directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller), 21 might as well be a factory-made blueprint of Starsky & Hutch, Hollywood’s last nod to kitschy television shows. Take a cult T.V. cop show (the late eighties-early nineties Fox series 21 Jump Street, which put Johnny Depp on the map)

A couple of arrests of note in the last 24 [...]

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the rights to Bel Ami, an [...]