Articles

Sex, Half-Truths and Videotape:
Auto Focus and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
by Thomas Doherty
Bob Crane and Chuck Barris are the subjects of two offbeat biopics—Paul Schrader’s Auto Focus and George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Thomas Doherty explains why the lives of these two minor television celebrities shed light on our “image-obsessed culture.”

Cautionary Tales: Documentaries on the U.N.
Sanctions and War with Iraq
by Anthony Arnove
As we go to press, an American invasion of Iraq seems imminent. In a survey of recent documentaries on Iraq, Anthony Arnove reflects upon the devastating consequences of U.N. sanctions on Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s human-rights abuses, the legacy of the Gulf War, and the ominous prospect of a new American military onslaught.

Who Dat Man?:
Shaft and the Blaxploitation Genre
by Joe Bob Briggs
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, Profoundly Disturbed: The Movies That Changed History, Joe Bob Briggs provides the background to Gordon Parks’s Shaft, a ‘Blaxploitation’ landmark that did little to advance the civil-rights agenda and which features a hero who hates blacks as much as whites!

White Man’s Burden:
Eminem’s Movie Debut in 8 Mile
by Roy Grundmann
Is the white rapper Eminem a brilliantly inventive artist or an unrepentant misogynist and homophobe? Roy Grundmann makes clear why Eminem’s debut film, 8 Mile, is a flawed but intriguing examination of the not-so-hidden injuries of race and class.

Interviews

The Spirit of Resistance:
An Interview with Bertrand Tavernier
by Richard Porton and Sandy Flitterman-Lewis
Safe Conduct, Tavernier’s sprawling film on the French film industry during the German Occupation, alternates pathos and humor with great finesse. In this wide-ranging interview, Tavernier discusses his passion for both French and American cinema, the critical reception of the film, and the historical paradoxes of filmmaking during a much misunderstood era.

Filming the Story of a Spy for God:
An Interview With Costa-Gavras
by Gary Crowdus and Dan Georgakas
At a time when the Catholic Church is being more heavily scrutinized than at any point in its history, Costa-Gavras’s new film, Amen., concurs with many recent historians in indicting the Vatican for criminal negligence during the Holocaust. In this comprehensive interview, Costa-Gavras details his voluminous research and the reasons why his film should not be considering as “Catholic bashing.”

Film Reviews

Bowling for Columbine Directed by Michael Moore
Reviewed by Christopher Sharrett and William Luhr

Far from Heaven Directed by Todd Haynes
Reviewed by Robert Sklar

Frida Directed by Julie Taymor
Reviewed by Joan M. West and Dennis West

Talk to Her Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Reviewed by Karen Backstein

Hell House Directed by George Ratliff
Reviewed by Heather Hendershot

Homevideo

The Melodramatic Neorealism of Luchino Visconti
by Martha P. Nochimson

Two Silent Shakespeares: Richard III and Othello
by Russell Jackson

Contempt
by Royal S. Brown

Book Reviews

Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979
by David A. Cook
Reviewed by Maria San Filippo

Positif 50 Years: Selections from the French Film Journal
Edited by Michel Ciment and Laurence Kardish
Reviewed by Mark Peranson

Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in Contemporary American Cinema
by Timothy Shary
Reviewed by Thomas Doherty

An Argentine Passion: Maria Luisa Bemberg and Her Films
Edited by John King
Reviewed by Dennis West

Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall
by Richard Barrios
Masculine Interests: Homoerotics in Hollywood Films
by Robert Lang
Reviewed by David Greven

Black & White & Noir: America’s Pulp Modernism
by Pula Rabinowitz
Reviewed by Paul Arthur

Driving Visions: Exploring the Road Movie
by David Laderman
Reviewed by David Segal

Short Takes

Blackboards by Dan Georgakas

Cul de Sac by Christopher Sharrett

Massoud, The Afghan by Cleo Cacoulidis

Testimony by Michael D. Rubenstein

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