The boundary between an actor’s public and private identity, the importance of an artist’s uniqueness, and the superiority of emotional authenticity over perfectly calibrated artifice in drama all swirl about Richard Eyre’s uneven period drama Stage Beauty. Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is a theatrical star in 1600 England famous for his mannered performance as Desdemona…

“Memories are like moonbeams – we do with them what we want,” says Bobby Darrin in Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey’s biopic of the ‘50s and ‘60s singer and actor, and it’s not the only time Lewis Colick’s script attempts to justify the ludicrous structural and thematic devices employed in this gimmicky recounting of the…

An incisive portrait of one man’s quiet rage at, and heartbreakingly violent response to, social inequality, Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold (written by Abbas Kiarostami) plays out like a less operatic Iranian version of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Expressionless, overweight pizza deliveryman and war veteran Hussein (Hossain Emadeddin) brims with unspoken resentment at the contemptuous treatment…

Under the stewardship of new directorial headmaster Alfonso Cuarón, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban far surpasses Chris Columbus’ literal-minded cinematic adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s first two fantasy novels. From its opening scene of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) tinkering with his wand under the covers, Cuarón’s Potter reveals a willingness to confront, however slyly, Harry’s…

Though its basic storyline is borrowed from Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel “Watchmen,” and though it never achieves the poignancy of Toy Story (or its sequel), Pixar’s The Incredibles remains the year’s foremost animation showstopper. Directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant), this explosion of ingenious gadgets, ‘50s-era art design, and wham-blam-kapow derring-do concerns a…

(Originally published in Rocky Mountain Bullhorn) Likely to infuriate social conservatives despite its impressive evenhandedness, Bill Condon’s Kinsey details the groundbreaking life of controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. Simultaneously hailed and decried for helping usher in the ‘60’s sexual revolution, Kinsey, a biologist, made a name for himself publishing frank, graphic studies such as the…

(Originally published in Rocky Mountain Bullhorn) Designed as a respite from winter’s doldrums, After the Sunset gleefully basks in the scrumptious sights and sounds of the Caribbean. Brett Ratner’s crime caper, about a couple of retired jewel thieves roped into stealing a diamond in the tropics, is a convincing commercial for the luxurious pleasures of…