There is no dominant front-runner for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, but you would never know that from the polls of the Florida Film Critics Circle and the Southeastern Film Critics Association (the two groups I belong to as a voting member). Both tapped The Social Network, David Fincher’s account of the founding of Facebook, as the best film of 2010 and, as happens only … [Read more...]
‘Social Network’ talky, but a must-see morality tale
The central irony of The Social Network is that while the website Facebook was devised to bring friends together, it split longtime friends among its creators apart. Populated with hyper-smart, glibly articulate characters based on real people, this is that rare studio release that allows itself to wallow in dialogue and gives moviegoers credit for being willing to listen. … [Read more...]
‘Viva Bourgeois!’ cannily brings Moliere to Graceland
Only a mind like Mad Cat Theatre Co.’s Paul Tei, steeped in both the classics and pop culture, could have come up with Viva Bourgeois! Instead of the troupe’s usual newly minted plays aimed squarely at its young audience of 30-somethings, Tei reached back to 17th-century France for his inspiration. How do you get contemporary theatergoers to relate to Moliere’s social … [Read more...]