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 | Love in the Time of Calamity Despite the already notorious sex scenes that have earned it the MPAA’s dreaded NC-17 rating, Ang Lee’s [b]Lust, Caution[/b] is a throwback to the cinema of the 40s, an epic romance set against the backdrop of the Second World War. It has been criticized by some for being too cautious, for surrounding moments of graphic intimacy with arid melodrama, but that’s missing the point.More |  | An American Legend, Methodically Debunked Andrew Dominik’s [b]The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford[/b] tells the story of one of America’s most infamous outlaws, a fearless robber who, thanks to a sympathetic press, became an unlikely folk hero. As cunning as he was elusive, the leader of the notorious James Gang artfully dodged the authorities for years until one of his trusted accomplices, Robert Ford, murdered him. Dominik’s film captures the details of their saga in exhaustive but fascinating detail, and though it features sporadic bursts of brutality, it is neither sensational nor cartoonishly biased.More |  | Exploring the Sleazy Underbelly of the Sex Industry Inspired by a [b]New York Times Magazine[/b] exposé of the international sex trafficking industry, [b]Trade[/b] is an unsettling tale of abduction and forced prostitution, centered around Adriana, a 13-year old Mexican girl (Paulina Gaitan), and Veronica, a Polish teenager (Alicja Bachleda), who are abducted and forced into sexual slavery by Russian mobsters. It is relentlessly bleak, lurid in its depiction of the harsh indignities its underage victims must endure, and should be alarming to those who consider themselves insulated from such depravity.More |  | A Tedious Return to Alien Nation In [b]The Invasion[/b], the latest take on Jack Finney’s ageless sci-fi novel [b]The Body Snatchers[/b], a disintegrating space shuttle re-entering earth’s atmosphere showers the American countryside with highly contagious alien spores. Before long, the world is overtaken by emotionless drones in human form, slaves to a collective will who offer global peace -- in exchange for our souls.More |  | A Pretty Yet Hopelessly Imperfect Portrait John Malkovich has spent his career embracing roles as varied as they are intriguing and unusual. He almost never plays against type because, after convincingly reinventing himself so many times, there is no type. The roles he chooses defy any pattern. Even so, after playing a flamboyant fraud in 2005’s [b]Color Me Kubrick[/b] and Austrian painter Gustav Klimt in the latest offering from Chilean-born director Raúl Ruiz, Malkovich’s affection for the offbeat has rarely been so apparent.More |  | A Call to Arms Rumors have been rampant that Neil Jordan’s [b]The Brave One[/b] will earn Jodie Foster her first Oscar nomination since 1994’s [b]Nell[/b], and it is easy to understand why. As a New York-based talk-show host whose cozy world is shattered when a gang of thugs cracks her skull and murders her fiancé (Naveen Andrews) during an evening stroll in Central Park, her performance is effectively nuanced, a subtle but convincing mix of impotent terror, vengeful rage and, ultimately, remorse. It would represent a star-making turn for an actress with a lesser résumé; for Foster, it is merely a platform to show off her dramatic range.More |  | An Invitation to a Celebration, Best Refused Julie Taymor’s latest would be better suited to the stage than screen, where its lavishly choreographed song-and-dance numbers and elaborate sets would easily overshadow its unexceptional story and needless indulgences. We’ve all heard the one about the wild children of the 60s who rejected the stodgy conservatism of their parents’ generation and embraced revolution -- at least for a time. Re-imagining that story as a musical set entirely to the music of the Beatles (and performed by the likes of Bono and Joe Cocker) is ambitious but, in the end, a noble failure.More |  | Lowbrow Fraternal Follies The pairing of Will Arnett, star of the devilishly subversive "Arrested Development", and Bob Odenkirk, co-creator of the tragically underappreciated "Mr. Show", has already yielded one underwhelming comedy, last year’s [b]Let’s Go to Prison[/b]. Now comes [b]The Brothers Solomon[/b], a slight upgrade in which Arnett and "Saturday Night Live" alum Will Forte embark on a desperate quest to produce a grandchild for their ailing father.More |  | Zombie Presents Passable Remake Give Rob Zombie some credit. Asked to do the unthinkable -- remake one of the most influential horror films in history, one of the few that has stood the test of time -- and he has done so, in a way that is mostly unique and still shocking. John Carpenter, director of the original [b]Halloween[/b], may have raised the bar to daunting heights, yet Zombie offers a broader but compelling take on the mythology that has made Michael Myers one of the creepiest villains in cinematic history.More |  | Apocalypse Now Playing on the post-9/11 fears that have already spawned at least one paranoia-induced phenomenon -- Keifer Sutherland’s "24" – [b]Right At Your Door[/b] explores a doomsday scenario that is by now familiar: Los Angeles has been struck by the detonation of dirty bombs that leave its citizens covered in toxic ash and dangerously contagious. Lexi (Mary McCormack) is caught in the midst of the chaos; her husband, Brad (Rory Cochrane) is trapped at home, frantically hoping to learn her whereabouts but powerless to do more.More |
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