The Lumière Reader » Film

The Film Reader is the cinephile arm of The Lumière Reader. It publishes related news and editorials; features, interviews and essays; film and DVD reviews; film festival coverage; and an ongoing series of columns with a preference towards the marginal and underseen. [About Us]

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: What's not to like? Barcelona in summer. Passionate artists Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz spend quality time with the free-spirited Scarlett Johansson. Blazingly sensual escapism, ground in realism. The Woodman's still got it, directing with a big heart and a sure hand. Cruz, liberated from mediocre American movies, is a Almodovarian force of nature.

Waltz With Bashir: Easily the year's best animated movie. Ex-Israeli soldier Ari Folman vividly explores the '82 war in Lebanon. With exceptional music, like the superb scene where a soldier hides in the ocean. "I am at peace. Just me and the sea."

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (DVD): My January DVD pick. Sidney Lumet owns the night, leaving the young pups in the dust, probing crime's personal tragedy. Fiercely moral, inventively constructed; forceful, while allowing ruminative space.—Alexander Bisley

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