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Tag: Drama

Distant (2002)

Drama Rated R

A movie that’s less about drama than the possibility of drama, Distant is one of those imports built on silent passages and prevailing ambiguity. Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan matches such art-film cliches with his theme: the emotional distance between people that can be so difficult to bridge. Set in Istanbul, the movie follows a

Factory Girl (2006)

Drama Rated R

“Sienna Miller shows impressive range in Factory Girl, but range isn’t necessarily what the part requires.

Oliver Twist (2005)

Drama Rated PG-13

The question of why anyone would bother to make another film version of Oliver Twist is not answered by director Roman Polanski. This works just fine as one of those tony, well-mounted adaptations destined to be shown in high school English classes, yet whatever the reason for tackling the picture (some have pointed to the

Pianist, The (2002)

Drama Rated R

The Pianist surprises us with history. We know going in that everything portrayed here actually happened during the German occupation of Poland, but the movie’s litany of horrors still manages to catch us unawares. Based on the memoirs of Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (a muted, mesmerizing Adrien Brody), the movie traces one man’s evasion of

Russian Ark (2002)

Drama Rated NR

Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark revisits 300 years of Russian history by wandering through St. Petersburg’s endless State Hermitage Museum in a single take. The camera flits among centuries as easily as it moves from room to room. It’s best not to try to apply logic to the movie and instead wonder at its bravura technical

Dead Girl, The (2007)

Drama Rated R

An oblique approach to the serial-killer thriller, The Dead Girl examines a young woman’s murder from nearly every angle – except for the traditional Hollywood one. When a body is found in a field, writer-director Karen Moncrieff (Blue Car) doesn’t proceed into a game of cat and mouse. Instead, she broods in separate segments over

Breaking and Entering (2007)

Drama Rated R

"Its waywardness may not make for the tightest of narratives, but it certainly gives the movie the pulse of real, random life."

Painted Veil, The (2006)

Drama Rated PG-13

This story of a married couple’s courting, betrayal and reunion – adapted from a novel by W. Somerset Maugham – is told in delicate, almost imperceptible notes. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts play the middle-class doctor and upper-class socialite who marry for conflicting reasons and set off to China. Both actors emphasize the loaded gestures

Venus (2007)

Drama Rated R

A feature-length defense of dirty old man syndrome, Venus charts the occasionally sweet but often icky relationship between an aged British actor named Maurice (Peter O’Toole) and the rebellious teen niece (Jodie Whittaker) of his friend. It’s a relief that the movie isn’t mawkish, but it goes too far once sexual favors become involved. What

Inland Empire (2007)

Drama Rated R

A nearly three-hour opus that in its few coherent moments centers on an identity crisis suffered by a Hollywood actress (Laura Dern), this will try the patience of the most devoted fans of director David Lynch. Mood, motif – these are the usual rewards of a Lynch picture, but even they wear out their welcome

Recent Reviews

Mother Mary (2026)

Drama Rated R

“A collage of religio-goth gestures…”

The Great Dictator (1940)

Comedy Rated G

“Charlie Chaplin was not messing around.”

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

Drama Rated R

“Streep has what can only be called a commanding fragility.”


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