Working in the UK was the best idea Woody Allen had in years. With his third British-made film, Cassandra’s Dream, Allen avoids all of the shtick clichés he wove around himself since the ‘80s. It’s a murder thriller keyed on conflict between family loya

The perennial PBS series "This Old House" is a must-see for many homeowners. Until now, social engagement has not been its core mission. Starting 7 p.m., Jan. 24 on MPTV-10 and running for multiple weeks, "This Old House" movies to t

Sixteen year old Juno is smarter than most of the people around her. She knows it and in her prickly sarcasm, her eye-rolling "You're such a dope" tone, she lets everyone know it, too. In director Jason Reitman's Juno, the namesake protagonist

Many minutes pass in There Will Be Blood, the latest film by writer-director Paul Anderson (Punch-DrunkLove, Boogie Nights), before human speech is heard. Set at the turn of the previous century in the early days of oil exploration, the film shows grimy

The Cold War was still frozen in place when "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." debuted in September 1964, less than two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Beatles had arrived, however, and the cultural temperature beyond the marble corridors of p

The documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me (available on DVD) doesn’t begin on stage but in a courthouse where Roky Erickson’s relatives are battling for control of his life. The latest episode of a troubled, decades long family history finds one of the songw

Starting this month, Riverwest Film & Video (826 E Locust St., 265-7420) is asking various Milwaukeeans to “curate” a display each month in the shop’s front window, focusing on their 15 favorite films of all time. I was honored to be the curator to

In a Texas town so small that the one bench near the bus depot is reserved for whites only, an all-black college exists under the watchful scrutiny of the local authorities. In 1935, the very idea of black college graduates was a reproach to the endemic

Jackie Gleason charged ahead bullishly with his plans for “The Honeymooners,” overstepping the objections of the network and ignoring the slings of critics. He had a good thing going with his weekly TV variety show. Why risk it all on a situation comedy

  Confession: I blew it. I didn’t bother seeing School of Rock when it came out in 2003 because the trailer looked silly and smarmy and I cynically decided that director Richard Linklater just wanted to make money in between artier projects and beca