Credit director Joe Wright with trying to avoid pigeonholing himself. His first two films, the period dramas Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, garnered much critical love and comparisons to a previous British master of sumptuous, graceful period pieces, David Lean. Not content to play just to the Masterpiece Theatre set, he set his sights on more modern material -- with mixed results -- in The Soloist. And now, radically shifting genres yet again, Wright delivers a thoroughly breathtaking, heart-racing international espionage thriller with fairy-tale overtones and a thumping electronic soundtrack from The Chemical Brothers -- a band he used to work with in his pre-cinema days directing and crewing rave-inspired music videos that probably inform this work a great deal more than anything he's done in feature films. more ›

There’s a huge star at the center of the Sydney Theatre Company’s much-hyped, Liv Ullman-directed, wholly satisfying new staging of A Streetcar Named Desire, which sold out its Kennedy Center run before the curtain rose on the first preview. I speak, of course, of the dramatist Tennessee Williams. more ›

Just who does Bob Dylan think he is? There must be a truth, a real life story way down underneath the layers of the biography that Dylan has created, but where that truth lies is probably only known to Mr. Zimmerman himself. So how does one approach making a film about the life of a man who has made a career out of self-mythologizing and asking us to please pay no attention to the man... more ›

Notes on a Scandal may star two of the greatest living actresses, thespians who more often play monarchs than molls, but don’t fool yourself—the movie’s trash, not art. But it’s a kind of high trash, a thinking woman’s "beach viewing," much in the vein of the delightfully lurid 2003 François Ozon film Swimming Pool. more ›

This piece was written by DCist contributor Cynthia Rockwell. Sure, you could bask in the seasonal spirit and check out the classics this weekend, but if you're looking to escape the incessant holiday cheer, here are a few ideas for cinematic diversion: >>Attention Cate Blanchett fans, we have not one but two films starring the willowy beauty opening this week. First is the slick black-and-white espionage thriller The Good German, Steven Soderbergh's homage to film... more ›

It's June and while many houses are wrapping up their seasons rather than embarking on new productions, others are up to the task of bringing something for us to watch this month, though the summer theater season looks a bit heavier than the X-Men-like offerings the summer movie season brings each year. Dysfunctional student/teacher relationships are at the center of Woolly Mammoth Theater's satirical The Faculty Room (June 5). Four men renounce women in favor... more ›

There are many ways to celebrate the holidays and a favorite DCist tradition is going to the movies on Christmas day. While almost everything else will be shuttered tight for the holiday, area movie theaters are gearing up for this year's big releases. Coming out Christmas day are the following: The Aviator: Howard Huges biopic staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale and Gwen Stefani. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: A new Wes Anderson... more ›