When Comedy Went to School

It's hardly controversial to call the U.S.' contemporary comedy scene the most advanced in the world.

The Grandmaster

In "The Grandmaster," acclaimed director Wong Kar-Wai attempts to tell the history of postwar China (beginning right after the Pu Yi era chronicled in "The Last Emperor") through the lens of martial arts grandmaster Ip Man (Tony Leung), son of the southern city of Foshan, and the daughter (Ziyi Zhang), herself an expert, of the northern legend who passed him the torch.

Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers

You'd think a documentary about the world's most successful syndicate of jewel thieves, especially one with as vital a title as "Smash & Grab," would muster more momentum than Havana Marking's slapdash "Story of the Pink Panthers."

The United States of Football

For "The United States of Football," his examination of the brain damage suffered by football players from the NFL down to the Peewees, Sean Pamphilon has commendably interviewed individuals offering a wide range of perspective: current and former NFL players, their wives, the top doctors and scientists studying CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), coaches and administrators, members of Congress.

The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear, Thérѐse

Thérѐse

The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear

The mildest of recommendations for a pair of art-house films this weekend.

The World's End

The 90% fresh rating for “The World’s End” on Rotten Tomatoes mystifies me.

Short Term 12

Sometimes a movie comes along. Nobody knows much about it; all they know is it’s supposed to be good. And it is. And at this moment in time, that movie is Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Short Term 12,” an unexpected crowd-pleaser about a group home for at-risk kids – a sort of way station between stops in the county bureaucracy.