http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea RSS Feed for Inq Col Steven Rea en-us Sun, 27 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120527_Coming_This_Week_by_Steven_Rea.html Hysteria The invention of the vibrator in Victorian England is the subject on which this comedy turns, and spins, and pulses. With Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rupert Everett and Jonathan Pryce. RSnow White and the Huntsman Kristen Stewart takes a break from vampires and werewolves to explore the timeless fairy tale, seducing her would-be killer (Chris Hemsworth, aka the Mighty Thor) and thwarting the plans of the Evil Queen (Charlize Theron). PG-13 Where Do We Go Now? Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and director of the seductive Carmel, is back with this story about a group of women trying to make peace between their village’s warring factions of Christians and Muslims. PG-13 http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120525_An_affecting_story_of_brothers_yearning_to_reunite_their_family.html 'Why is everyone so calm when the volcano is erupting?" a schoolkid wonders as he and a friend work their way through the town of Kagoshima, the ashes of an active volcano coating its streets in dust. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120518__Surviving_Progress___Documentary_paints_picture_of_civilization_headed_toward_doom.html A wake-up call of epic significance, Surviving Progress is one of those documentaries that everybody should see - and, alas, a documentary that many will dismiss as politically slanted, while others just won't know it's there. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120518__Losing_Control___Career_v__commitment__wrapped_in_comic_absurdity.html If Losing Control has too much of a girl-com TV vibe about it - and it does, replete with wacky pals, bad blind dates, and perilously upbeat music cues - it also has smarts. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120516_Sacha_Baron_Cohen_rsquo_s__lsquo_The_Dictator_rsquo__hilariously_weighs_democracy__autocracy.html ‘Imagine if America was a dictatorship,” General Admiral Haffaz Aladeen invites a crowd of wary New Yorkers. He is on a state visit from the North African country he rules with an iron fist — and with a fleet of gold-plated Hummers — and he could not be more sincere. “You could let 1 percent of the people have all the nation’s wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes and bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free, but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. …” http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120518__Bernie___True-crime_comedy_with_a_Texas_drawl.html Early in Richard Linklater's cheerfully twisted true-crime Texas comedy, Bernie, a cartoon map appears with sections of the state broken down culturally, anthropologically. Sonny Davis, a colorful coot in a trucker cap, addresses the camera from his perch atop a diner stool, describing central Texas as the People's Republic of Austin, full of "hairy-legged women and liberal fruitcakes." http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120511__Dark_Shadows___A_vampire_tale_that_bleeds_retro.html Rip Van Winkle's 20-year snooze is a catnap compared to the time Barnabas Collins has spent buried in the ground, lying in a coffin shut tight with heavy chains. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120511_A_dog_and_his_people_in__Darling_Companion_.html John Steinbeck, who crisscrossed the country with his standard poodle and lived to write the tale (Travels with Charley), noted that "I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120504_Summer_rsquo_s_Must-See_Movies.html THE SUMMER movie season commences today with “The Avengers,” a giant Thor-gasm of Marvel superheroes wrapped in one package. It has the star attractions — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America — from previous summer hits, and magnanimously gives The Hulk yet another chance to make his blockbuster bones. For good measure, it also offers Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, a night-of-a-thousand-stars cast, a $220 million budget, and geek-guru director Joss Whedon. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/steven_rea/20120506_Coming_this_Week__by_Steven_Rea.html BernieJack Black stars as a murderous mortician in this true-crime East Texas tale, with Shirley MacLaine as the much-loathed millionairess victim, and Matthew McConaughey as the D.A. on the case. Dark satire from director Richard Linklater. PG-13 Changing the GameFrom the North Philly hood to the corporate towers of Wall Street —hometown filmmaker Rel Dowdell’s urban morality tale stars Sean Riggs, Tony Todd, Irma P. Hall and Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones. R