Bad Brown People!

Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population. More

The Kids Are All Right - NYT Critics' Pick

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in “The Kids Are All Right.”
Meet the Sperm Donor: Modern Family Ties
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: July 9, 2010

I’m tempted to start this review by falling back on a tried-and-true movie critic formulation and saying something like “Lisa Cholodenko’s ‘Kids Are All Right’ is the best comedy about an American family since ...” Since what? Precedents and grounds for comparison seem to be lacking, so I may have to let the superlative stand unqualified for now. More

Around a Small Mountain - NYT Critics' Pick

Jane Birkin and Sergio Castellitto, whose character, a traveler, becomes fascinated by a circus in southwestern France.
He’s Off to Join the Circus
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: July 9, 2010

“How was I?” a trapeze artist named Clémence (Julie-Marie Parmentier) asks Vittorio (Sergio Castellitto), a traveler, supposedly en route from Milan to Barcelona, who has paused to indulge in a mellow, offhand way the universal childhood dream of running off to join the circus. More

Racing Dreams (2009) - NYT Critics' Pick

Brandon Warren, a volatile 13-year-old race car driver, in Marshall Curry’s “Racing Dreams,” which focuses on three young competitors with Nascar aspirations.
Too Young for Driver’s Licenses, but With Full-Throttle Ambitions
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: July 9, 2010

“Racing Dreams,” Marshall Curry’s absorbing documentary examination of the world of professional auto racing, comes at its subject craftily: from below. Instead of profiling the superstars of stock-car racing, glorifying the sport and relating its history, it concentrates on three up-and-coming competitors in its unofficial Little League, the World Karting Association. More

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Noomi Rapace portrays Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” based on the second of Stieg Larsson’s novels.
Even in the Rising Heat, She Stays Pretty Cool
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: July 9, 2010

Those who need a break from the romantic travails of Bella Swan — and who like a best-seller-list tie-in for their moviegoing — will welcome the release of “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” the second installment in the Swedish trilogy based on Stieg Larsson’s novels. Hollywood remakes are not far off, but what Anglophone actress could match the intense rightness of Noomi Rapace for the role of Lisbeth Salander? Ellen Page? Carey Mulligan (listed as “rumored” on the IMDB Web site)? Miley Cyrus? More