Dolittle could have done a lot more
Movie review: Dolittle
Robert Downey Jr. dons Victorian garb and a Welsh accent for his turn as a dotty vet with a particular gift in this grim take on a kid-lit classic that lacks authenticity, despite the realistic creatures.
Whit Stillman loves powerful women
Interview: Whit Stillman on Love & Friendship
The American filmmaker creates a fine comic weave using Jane Austen's material, Kate Beckinsale's sharp talents and his unique sense and sensibility for social satire
By Katherine Monk
“I really enjoy dominant, manipulative women. I find them very entertaining,” says Whit Stillman, his tone so matter-of-fact, it almost makes you laugh.
Then again, that’s his charm. The director of Metropolitan, Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco built a reputation as a cunning social satirist in the ‘90s for plucking the veil off human vanity to show us the pimples of truth. He also showed a preference for using powerful, insightful and somewhat self-absorbed females as the dainty hand behind his narrative tatting.
It’s the reason why his latest endeavor, Love & Friendship, feels like such a natural stitch in Stillman’s oeuvre: It’s based on the work of Jane Austen, the godmother of social satire, a pioneer of female ...
The Spoils of Babylon burns oil economy
@Home entertainment: The Spoils of Babylon on DVD
SNL alumnus Matt Piedmont creates a strange homage to the era of early '80s miniseries with The Spoils of Babylon, an elaborate, six-episode spoof starring Will Ferrell as a washed up auteur and Kristen Wiig as an oil heiress with the hots for her bastard brother
Movie review: Far from the Madding Crowd
Carey Mulligan and Danish director Thomas Vinterberg combine forces to bring the perfect practical touch to Thomas Hardy's pastoral classic, writes Katherine Monk
