The Movie Page

The 10 best indie movies of 2008: Heartbreaking French family saga "A Christmas Tale" tops the list in a strong year for documentaries and foreign-language films; Andrew O'Hehir December 27, 2008

War as a "bad acid trip: Director Ari Folman talks about his extraordinary animated war memoir "Waltz With Bashir," a nightmarish journey down the rabbit hole of memory; Andrew O'HehirDecember 26, 2008 6 letters
Marley & Me: Aniston and Wilson get a rascally dog. But what could have been a pooch of a tear-jerker is actually a moving look at marriage and loss; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 25, 2008 34 letters
"I chose to forget everything I could": For more go to Video Dog
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": Brad Pitt grows up to be a beautiful baby in David Fincher's ambitious epic of love, loss and anti-aging; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 25, 2008 29 letters
Valkyrie: Tom Cruise leads a cast of actors giving terrible performances in a big-budget Nazi thriller that's just following orders; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 25, 2008 64 letters
The Spirit: Not even a masked superhero can save this stylized but spiritless movie based on a legendary comic book; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 25, 2008 11 letters
Revolutionary Road: In Sam Mendes' latest, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio eloquently suffocate in suburbia -- aided by the best art direction money can buy; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 25, 2008 6 letters
It's a seafood-couscous Christmas!: Vivid Arab-French immigrant yarn "Secret of the Grain" is a near-masterpiece; fascinating Brecht documentary "Theater of War" describes one; By Andrew O'HehirDecember 24, 2008 2 letters
The 10 best movies of 2008: "Happy-Go-Lucky" and the ignored romantic comedy "Ghost Town" were among those that reminded us why films are still worth looking at; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 24, 2008 114 letters
Indies thrive in a dying economy: There were no "Juno"-scale hits, several distributors went under and the economy's in the crapper. But contrary to all reason, 2008 was a good year for independent film; Andrew O'HehirDecember 22, 2008 7 letters
Seven Pounds: In this follow-up to "The Pursuit of Happyness," Will Smith gives the greatest gift of all. If only we could send it back; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 19, 2008 39 letters
Yes Man: Jim Carrey plays it kooky -- again -- in this manic romantic comedy; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 19, 2008 17 letters
Doubt: Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a priest who may -- or may not! -- be a pedophile in this deliberately ambiguous drama; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 12, 2008 14 letters
The Day the Earth Stood Still: This supremely lame update of the sci-fi classic, starring Keanu Reeves, is assembled out of bits of every movie where an unknown whatzit threatens our way of life; By Andrew O'HehirDecember 12, 2008 81 letters
Revolution in shades of gray: Steven Soderbergh talks about his maddening, messy near-masterpiece "Che," an aloof and ambiguous portrait of the much-loved, much-hated Marxist icon; Andrew O'HehirDecember 12, 2008 6 letters
Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood keeps it real as a retired Detroit autoworker in this antidote to the season's glossy prestige pictures; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 12, 2008 14 letters
The Reader: Kate Winslet strips off her clothes and secrets in this wartime drama -- but where is the passion?; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 10, 2008 15 letters
An indie chick, her dog and the 2008 depression: Will Oscar notice Michelle Williams' pitch-perfect performance as the dead-broke slacker chick who loses her dog in the wrenching, intriguing "Wendy and Lucy"?; Andrew O'HehirDecember 10, 2008 5 letters
A fascist childhood (with naked chicks): Fellini's 1973 "Amarcord" blends memory and fantasy into an outrageous, bittersweet entertainment. Sexist and sentimental? Duh. It's also wonderful; Andrew O'HehirDecember 6, 2008 10 letters
Frost/Nixon: A wily talk-show host takes on a disgraced president in Ron Howard's refreshingly grown-up holiday movie. Guess who wins?; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 5, 2008 29 letters
Cadillac Records: As Etta James, Beyoncé Knowles gives one of the year's best performances in this ensemble film about the legendary artists of a Chicago music label; By Stephanie ZacharekDecember 5, 2008 11 letters
Oscar season's bewildering kickoff: With warring sets of year-end indie awards on top of each other, who can keep track? We can! Here's who's in, out, hot and not at this very moment; Andrew O'HehirDecember 4, 2008 9 letters
A raunchy gay fantasia from Tel Aviv: "Antarctica" pushes global gay cinema to new levels of manflesh hotness. But it's basically an Israeli episode of "Melrose Place" with bad lesbian folk music; Andrew O'HehirDecember 2, 2008 8 letters
The man who blew up America's closets: Sean Penn leaps to the front of the Oscar race with his uncanny invocation of the slain gay-rights leader. Gus Van Sant's vibrant biopic meets the challenge -- almost; Andrew O'HehirNovember 26, 2008 44 letters
Australia: Hugh Jackman is soulful and strapping in Baz Luhrmann's crazy mess of a movie -- but why won't Nicole Kidman's face move?; By Stephanie ZacharekNovember 26, 2008 32 letters
Four Christmases: Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon help us make it through the holidays with this funny, gently subversive Christmas movie; By Stephanie ZacharekNovember 26, 2008 6 letters

DVD Releases

Savage Grace (12/23)
Mamma Mia! (12/16)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (12/16)
The House Bunny (12/16)
Traitor (12/16)
The Dark Knight (12/9)
Horton Hears a Who (12/9)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (12/1)
Step Brothers (12/1)
Wanted (12/1)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (12/1)
Meet Dave (11/24)
Hancock (11/24)
Tropic Thunder (11/18)
WALL-E (11/18)
Rent DVDs with Netflix

Now Playing

Coming Up

The Spirit (12/25)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (12/25)
Valkyrie (12/25)
Marley and Me (12/25)
Revolutionary Road (12/25)

Salon's Movie Page spotlights our film reviews, especially our critics' picks, and lets you check movie showtimes, buy tickets or rent DVDs. You can e-mail the editor here.

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