Ron Krauss’ Gimme Shelter is a social-problem film, the sort of earnest exploration of a tendentious topic that Stanley Kramer might have made — if Stanley Kramer were a 21st-century Tea Partier. Or maybe a 20th century John Bircher, because none of the film’s targets feel especially new. Either way, the drama’s dog-whistle conservatism is so pernicious that it eats away at … [Read more...]
‘The Infidel’ takes on religion with some solid laughs
A debate is raging in this country over what it means to be Muslim. The ethnic comedy The Infidel will hardly resolve things, but it least it tosses some leavening humor at the question. Following its debut in the spring at the Tribeca Film Festival and its subsequent limited runs in New York and California, director Josh Appignanesi’s send-up of religious stereotypes opts … [Read more...]