Movies

Over the past ten years, I've felt very mixed about Woody Allen's films. When he's on, these days, he's really on—his movies are funny and human and delightful. But when he's off, his films feel self-indulgent and flat. Luckily for moviegoers in this Oscar cycle, with Midnight in Paris, Allen was totally on, creating a lovely, frothy fantasy where love and struggling writers win in the end. It deserves a Parisian feast in celebration.  Read more >

I'm going to admit it right up front: Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is not my favorite, by far, of the nine Oscar Best Picture nominees. It's a complicated, often allegorical film, at times beautiful and poetic, at times, to my eyes, utterly weird. The movie examines the inner life of a family in Waco, Texas, and the bonds between them, whether those bonds are spiritual, tenuous, tender, or all three at the same time.  Read more >

We're moving to the Deep South in today's edition of our Best Picture Dinners series. Next on my list is The Help, an inspiring movie about the power of storytelling used against oppression.  Read more >

Today, our Best Picture Dinners progressive party moves close to my home: Oakland, where much of Moneyball, which stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, was filmed. The movie focuses on the Oakland A's 2002 season, when manager Billy Beane took the team on an incredible run using a then-unorthodox management style.  Read more >

If you're a movie lover, it's the most wonderful time of the year. The Golden Globes aired a few weeks ago, kicking off the red carpet season. And this week, the nominations for the Academy Awards were released at the crack of dawn on Tuesday morning. It's probably the one day out of the entire year that all of Hollywood wakes up well before noon.  Read more >