Big Bird was Sesame Street’s first break-out character. Forty years spent masking his Prince Valiant haircomb beneath fleece and plumage has afforded Caroll Spinney — the "I" in I Am Big Bird — the unbelievable good fortune of playing one of the most recognizable characters on the planet while retaining …
Documentarian Daniel Cross takes audiences on a tour of what's left of the performance venues that once comprised the legendary "Chitlin' Circuit."
For the first third of its running time, director Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now, Rana’s Wedding) stocks his latest (sorta’) “inspired by true events” stew with a highly affecting, lovingly detailed depiction of a young Palestinian boy wanting nothing more than to form a band in order to help pay for …
Punk isn't dead, but it is 69 years old.
There aren't many pop songs that become the subject of a documentary. Written and directed by John Scheinfeld.
The death of one animal (a faithful dog) and the arrival of another (an invading rat amid the tasteful, immaculate environs of a California bungalow) signal a change in the life of composed, content (complacent?) Chardonnay connoisseur Carol (a luminous yet thoroughly terrestrial Blythe Danner). First there's a new pool …
What shall we name the baby? Italian. Directed by Francesca Archibugi.
I guess it's especially important to be earnest on stage? Starring David Suchet as Lady Bracknell.
The biggest problem here is right there in the title, taken from a little girl's cutesy term for her bipolar father's condition: it pretties up the nightmare. Writer-director Maya Forbes wants you to feel like you're being shown the difficult truth of a family wracked by mental illness. But the …
Documentarian and unmistakable cinephile Stig Björkman — one of his side jobs is translating Woody Allen for Swedish audiences — gets handed the golden key that unlocks the Bergman vault. Told almost exclusively in her own words — from diary pages the actress first began filling at age 14, to …
With 133,000 residents speaking 167 languages, the 300-acre stretch of land known as Jackson Heights, Queens boasts the most culturally diverse neighborhood in the world. It’s also the subject of 85-year-old proudly self-professed, “non-fiction filmmaker” Frederick Wiseman's (National Gallery) 40th feature, a mammoth, 190 minute undertaking shot with his trademark …
Call it kid-friendly psychology: Pixar's latest begins with a lot of bold (and visually appealing) assumptions: first, that our emotions run the show when it comes to our interior landscape; and second, that those emotions are Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. (Whither Envy? Hate? Desire? Best not to ask; …
First it's unpleasant, then it's boring. The idea was okay: take the spiritual medium from the first two Insidious movies, and explore her backstory. I mean, she's kind of an important figure, and her job isn't exactly easy, what with all the restless demons out there. Why does she keep …
“God, I wish your expressions weren’t so transparent.” It’s a line our internet fashion house founder (Anne Hathaway) uses, though it’s not clear whether it’s in reference to the 70-year-old newbie assigned to be her intern (Robert De Niro) or the seasoned actor who plays him. The solid premise – …
First, the good news: director Ron Howard does right by the whale in this story of the true story behind the greatest fish story of them all, Moby Dick. In contrast to nearly everything else — characters, action, themes — the massive marine mammal is presented clearly, potently, and without …