Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 25, 2013

Ken Loach's latest film, "The Angels' Share," begins with a pretty uproarious scene. Somewhere in Glasgow, Scotland, Albert (Gary Maitland) is drunk and, bottle in hand, getting drunker. He's stumbling around a tube station, dangerously close to the edge of the tracks. We hear in voiceover the...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 18, 2013

Movies take time to make. So it's rare for a film to appear in theaters that feels as if it were just ripped from the headlines. The type of real-life event echoed in "Disconnect," though, has lamentably begun occurring more frequently. Just this month, details emerged of two teenagers who...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 18, 2013

What's the difference between a derivative knock-off and a clever or loving homage? Like beauty, it seems to be found in the eye of the beholder. Critics loved 2011's "Super 8," J.J. Abrams' rough tribute to Steven Spielberg that felt exactly like a Steven Spielberg film. But so far, they're...

Published: Thu, Apr 18, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With the Golden Globes ceremony scheduled for next January, Hollywood's 2014 awards season is set. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Thursday that the Golden Globe Awards will be presented on Jan. 12. Awards shows face additional scheduling challenges to avoid...

THOMAS ADAMSON

Published: Thu, Apr 18, 2013

PARIS (AP) -- The Cannes Film Festival's 2013 lineup announced Thursday features work from some of the globe's most dangerous locales for artists, and a sprinkling of works by old favorites including Roman Polanski, the Coen brothers and Steven Soderbergh. Celebrating world cinema from...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

If you saw the last two films Robert Redford directed -- 2007's "Lions for Lambs" and 2010's "The Conspirator" -- you likely weren't surprised to hear that his latest, "The Company You Keep," centers on political radicals. But you might be surprised to discover that one of Hollywood's best-known...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

"Remember, do not be a hero. No piece of art is worth a human life." That's what the various employees of a tony London auction house are told. But not all of them believe it. Simon (James McAvoy), for one. The young auctioneer must realize that double-crossing a serious criminal like Franck...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 4, 2013

"The Revolutionary Optimists" is a big title for a small documentary. But it's not false advertising. It does seem revolutionary that the boys and girls whose lives are chronicled here have retained any sense of optimism at all. They're poor children growing up in Calcutta, India, where about a...

Kelly Jane Torrance

Published: Thu, Apr 4, 2013

Italian director Matteo Garrone came to international attention with his 2008 film, "Gomorrah," which told brutal tales, based on reality, of the Camorra, a Mafia-like criminal enterprise. Garrone's new film tackles a subject almost as loathsome: reality television. "Reality," which like the...

Brian Hughes

Published: Thu, Apr 4, 2013

Part of me wants to feel guilty for recommending this bloodbath, a film so brutal and gory you'll feel at least somewhat sadistic for enjoying the endless depravity. But unlike most remakes, "Evil Dead" is a worthy reboot, albeit one that will alienate even slightly squeamish filmgoers sure to...