There was a time, before social media and cell phones, when a scandal took hours or even days to break publicly, and when a politician’s fortunes were perhaps not decided within seconds of being captured in a compromising photograph. That was the case in 1987, when Gary Hart, a rising Democratic star, seemed all but poised to sail easily to his party’s nomination to face Ronald Reagan’s ... more >
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INTERVIEW | Jason Reitman on the making of “The Front Runner”
When politics went tabloid
Starring Hugh Jackman and Vera Farmiga
Directed by Jason Reitman
The Conjuring
Or the death of Marco Polo
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Lili Taylor
Directed by James Wan
In “The Conjuring” Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga take the roles of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Nick and Nora of supernatural troubleshooting. The real-life Warrens are best known in some circles as investigators at Amityville. “The Conjuring” comes from a lesser known incident earlier in their career, a 1971 investigation at a 300-year-old Rhode Island farmhouse. The ... more >
FESTIVAL BEAT: Vera Farmiga in “Higher Ground”
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. -- “Higher Ground” is a nuanced tale of one woman struggling to balance her rebellious intellect with her membership in a restrictive Christian sect. Eventually, after twenty years of compliance she decides to turn away from her faith. Vera Farmiga (“Up In The Air”) directs and stars in “Higher Ground” and also co-wrote the script with Carolyn S. Briggs, whose memoir “This ... more >
Henry’s Crime
Big-hearted guy gets wrongly accused of robbing a bank
James Caan, Vera Farmiga and Keanu Reeves
Directed by Malcolm Venville
Provoked by his cellmate’s (James Caan) dream lecture, Henry Smith (Keanu Reeves), a lackluster hero who has just served three years for a robbery he didn’t commit, discovers his dream: he's going to commit the very bank robbery for which he was wrongly convicted three years ago. With the help of his former cellmate, he devises a plan to break into the bank via the theater across the street, but ... more >
Orphan
Watching more horror movies is good for you
Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard and Isabelle Fuhrman
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
I laughed all the way through the evil child thriller Orphan. Was that a good laugh? Was that a bad laugh? I don't know. I never figured it out. All I can report is that I was laughing. When the little dark haired homicidal maniac forces a nun's car off the road and kills her with a hammer? That's depraved! When she asks her curly-haired kid sister to help her hide the body? Am I chuckling ... more >