All posts by Chris Heller
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Review: Corman's World
If Jack Nicholson and Martin Scorsese trash a director's films, saying that ''nobody was trying to make them good,'' or that ''taste was out of...
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From Short to Feature
''I set out to write well-rounded characters,'' says Dee Rees of her filmmaking debut, Pariah. ''Each one has their own wants, their own needs, their...
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Coming Out
In the wrong hands, Pariah could have easily settled as the sum of its parts. Its premise -- a poignant look at a black teenage...
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The Best and Worst Movies of 2011
The past year has been fantastic for moviegoers. More so than any other year in recent memory, the best films of 2011 are incredibly different...
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Tattoo Paradise
I might as well admit it -- I've never read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. When I sat down to watch director David Fincher's...
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Prickly Protagonist
Can a great movie be about a terrible person? The tenet of traditional screenwriting is that audiences need a relatable protagonist. Even jerks have...
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Breaking Out
The first thing you notice about Lauren Weedman is her face. It's one of those that instantly conveys personality -- you look, spot the quirks,...
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Love Shots
It's tough to say what director Tomer Heymann wanted out of I Shot My Love, an hour-long documentary about identity, family and desire. He opens...
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Over Sexed
In Shame, everything starts with a look. All sorts of possibilities exist in each one -- this time, maybe they'll do it pinned up against...
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Puppet Masters
Nostalgia's a funny thing. It nags us when we least expect it, triggered by a smell or a phrase or some odd sensation that's burrowed...
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Midlife Aloha
Alexander Payne had made quite a name for himself on the backs of middle-aged discontents. In Election, it was the stagnant, scheming sort. In Sideways,...
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Insecurity
Clint Eastwood deserves a whole lot of credit. As a director, he's pushed away the man's man archetype that made him famous -- you know,...
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Building Violation
Tower Heist is loud, stuffed with famous people, insistent to the point of shamelessness, and oh-so-very obvious. There's no common denominator it can't lower and...
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Inspiring Betrayal
Stephen Pevner is a busy guy. After jetting off to Europe last week, where he attended a film festival in England, took a short trip...
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Cult Clash
Martha Marcy May Marlene: Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson (Photo by Jody Lee Lipes) It won't surprise you to learn that a movie with Martha...
