Shia LaBeouf’s Bogus Journey: Is It ‘Art’?
Can you deflect criticism for plagiarism and ill-thought out Twitter escapades by announcing that your actions were really "performance art" all along? Actor Shia LaBeouf recently pulled, or...
Review: The Wolf of Wall Street
Jordan Belfort struts around his East Coast boiler room defiant. He’s a double-breasted Duce posing on the balcony, milking rapturous applause from his merry band of fucking idiots. “Stratton...
The Return of Sherlock
After considerable delay, Sherlock is back on US airwaves, where it will be running on PBS’ “Masterpiece” over the next few weeks. Most people in the US have already watched it, of course, via...
Review: Syfy’s Helix
Before I delve into SyFy’s new original show Helix, I must first express my deep and abiding look for epidemiology. While I love all the sciences, and I’m fascinated by medicine, epidemiology is...
Review: 12 Years a Slave
Just look at Edwin Epps’ eyes. Shimmering blue hatred ringed with red and sunk into black pits dug out of his cheekbones. The sweat of corruption clings to his sickly yellow skin, he is odious and...
A Country Divided: The EuroMaidan Protests in Ukraine
Well, the holidays are over, and sure enough, more clashes between protesters and riot police have erupted in Kiev. If you haven’t been paying much attention to what is happening in the Ukrainian...
Bon Voyage: Director Jillian Schlesinger on her “Maidentrip”
While Robert Redford (star of J.C. Chandor’s “All Is Lost”) and Tom Hanks (playing the titular “Captain Phillips” in Paul Greengrass’s latest) are surely setting their compasses in the...
Review: Downton Abbey Season Four
Downton Abbey has returned to the airwaves in the United States at last, much to the delight of the show’s rabid fans from coast to coast. But what does it have to offer with its fourth season?...
Review: American Hustle
“Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man - there's your diamond in the rough.” Larry David should know, that glint in his eye, a fortune in the bank, that...
Even Righteous Babes Can Be Wrong: Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Retreat Controversy
Musician and activist Ani DiFranco was recently embroiled in controversy after she announced plans for a four-day feminist creativity camp, called the Righteous Retreat, to be held near her...