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Aug. 6th, 2010
Colm Hogan/IFC Films
Alexander Siddig and Patricia Clarkson in “Cairo Time.” More Photos »
A Man, a Woman and the Pyramids
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: August 5, 2010
You might say that there is, in the literal, plot-summary sense, a romantic triangle at the heart of Ruba Nadda’s “Cairo Time.” An American woman waiting to meet her husband in the Egyptian capital is drawn toward a dalliance with a former colleague of his, a local resident who drives her from the airport to her hotel and graciously offers his services as tour guide and companion. But what gives this delicate, decorous movie its distinctive throb of melancholy sensuality is less the humdrum possibility of adultery than the intimation of a three-way entanglement involving the man, the woman and Cairo. The city is also clearly the principal object of Ms. Nadda’s ardor. More
Lebanon -- NYT Critics' Pick
Aug. 6th, 2010 05:58 am
Oshri Cohen, left, and Itay Tiran as Israeli soldiers in “Lebanon,” written and directed by Samuel Maoz. More Photos »
The View From the Lens of an Israeli Tank’s Scope
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: August 5, 2010
A scene early in “Lebanon” dramatizes the moral confusion of combat with unusual clarity and force. Shmulik (Yoav Donat), a nervous young Israeli soldier who operates the main gun in a tank, has orders to shoot a fast-approaching car. Through his viewfinder he can see the faces of the driver and passengers, and the fact of their humanity paralyzes his hand, preventing him from firing. More
Brotherhood -- NYT Critics' Pick
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:01 am
Thure Lindhardt, left, and David Dencik, as members of a Neo-Nazi group who become involved in a sexual relationship.
A Band of Neo-Nazis, Navigating Sexuality
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 5, 2010
Nicolo Donato’s melodrama “Brotherhood” digs into the collective psyche of a Danish neo-Nazi group whose brightest recruit and biggest potential star, Lars (Thure Lindhardt), is a semi-closeted gay man with masculinity issues. An up-and-coming army officer, Lars abruptly abandons the military when his expected promotion to master sergeant is denied because of rumors that he has made drunken passes at fellow soldiers. While he bides his time considering a course of action, his well-connected middle-class parents arrange behind his back for him to take an army post in New Zealand; he angrily rejects their interference. More
Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008) NYT Critics' Pick
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:03 am
Göran-Gustaf Skarsgård, Sven-Torkel Petersson and Thomas Ljungman in “Patrik, Age 1.5.”
Two Men and Not Quite a Baby
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: August 5, 2010
Tanya Tucker belting on the soundtrack of a Swedish romantic comedy is not something you hear every day, but she fits right in with the general eccentricity of “Patrik, Age 1.5.”
Her song “Love Me Like You Used To” warns us that Sven (Torkel Petersson), one half of a gay married couple, is feeling dissatisfied. Impatiently awaiting the arrival of an adopted baby son, he and his partner, Goran (Gustaf Skarsgard), are horrified to receive Patrik (Thomas Ljungman), a 15-year-old homophobe with vaguely criminal tendencies. Not even Ms. Tucker has a song to help with that. More
Look! It's Martin Sheen! The Kid: Chamaco
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:04 am
Sofia Espinosa and Alex Perea in “Chamaco.”
Boxing Dreams
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: August 5, 2010
In “The Kid: Chamaco,” a gauche but likable first feature from Miguel Necoechea, a Mexican boy dreams of becoming a famous boxer. In his way are poverty, an abusive father, a corrupt cop and a bad case of asthma; in his corner are a washed-up Olympian and a kindly American doctor. Since the doctor is played by none other than Martin Sheen, we know the cinema gods, at least, are on the kid’s side. More
Mundo Alas (2009) NYT Critics' Pick
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:06 am
Performers, some with disabilities, in “Mundo Alas.”
An Unusual Concert Tour
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Published: August 5, 2010
León Gieco, the well-known Argentine folk singer, is so determined to put the spotlight on others in “Mundo Alas” (“World Wings”), an admirable documentary about an unusual concert tour he led, that you end up wanting to wrestle him into a chair and make him talk. More
Catarina Wallenstein and Ricardo Trêpa, far right, in “Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl.”
Life, That Continuing Mystery, Should Be Lived, Not Worried Over
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 5, 2010
In “Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl,” the Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira’s exquisite but peculiar screen adaptation of a short story by Eça de Queiros, everything changes yet remains the same. All is illusion and beyond human understanding, and memory is not to be trusted in a film that takes a long view that encompasses generations. An excerpt from “The Keeper of Sheep,” a 1914 poem by the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa that is recited in the movie, distills the perspective of Mr. de Oliveira, who at the age of 101 should know something about farsightedness. More
Guilty Pleasures?
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:09 amStep Up 3D (2010)
One of a series of dance showdowns in the movie “Step Up 3D,” directed by Jon M. Chu.
Happy Feet Waging Hip-Hop Battles
By MIKE HALE
Published: August 5, 2010
Spring Fever (2009)
From left, Qin Hao, Tan Zhuo and Chen Sicheng in a scene from the film “Spring Fever,” by the Chinese director Lou Ye.
Revolving-Door Romances for Modern-Day Chinese
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 5, 2010
One of a series of dance showdowns in the movie “Step Up 3D,” directed by Jon M. Chu.
Happy Feet Waging Hip-Hop Battles
By MIKE HALE
Published: August 5, 2010
Partway through “Step Up 3D” there’s a number unlike anything else in the movie. Set to a remix of Fred Astaire’s version of “I Won’t Dance,” blaring from an ice cream truck’s loudspeaker, it’s the film’s most conspicuous attempt to ride Astaire’s coattails and is its only memorable dance. That’s not because of the choreography, which is ho-hum, but because for a few moments the dancing helps tell the story, taking the tentative romance of Moose (Adam G. Sevani) and Camille (Alyson Stoner) a few steps further. More
Spring Fever (2009)
From left, Qin Hao, Tan Zhuo and Chen Sicheng in a scene from the film “Spring Fever,” by the Chinese director Lou Ye.
Revolving-Door Romances for Modern-Day Chinese
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 5, 2010
“Drunken nights without hope, like this one: I spend them wandering outside until the sky grows pale.” Those words, written in 1923 by the Chinese author Yu Dafu, serve as the epigraph for Lou Ye’s rambling, unstrung soap opera “Spring Fever.” As a voice-over murmurs the epigraph, the camera surveys the murky skyline of Nanjing, the Chinese city through which its restless young characters drift in a state of sullen heat. The tableau is one of the few reflective moments in an otherwise chaotic, distracted melodrama. More
Honeywell and Awesome Customer Support
Aug. 6th, 2010 01:48 pmOnce in the long ago, when I lived at a duplex, it had a first-generation Honeywell time-delay thermostat. It also had gravity hot water heat, which took about twelve hours to reach the temperature that the thermostat was set at. In addition, the clock on the thermostat refused to keep time. One day when I was home, I noticed, in the middle of the day, that the clock was going backwards. So, I called Honeywell customer support. This was in the day when the main Honeywell offices wuz just a few blocks away.
"The clock on my Honeywell thermostat is going backwards." I said.
"Did you set the time by turning the clock backwards?" the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"No." I said.
"Well, you must have." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"Anyway," I said, "Is there something I can do to fix it?"
"You know," the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said, "we've had so many problems with that clock..."
Today I called them up, to say that their website, which has a page to contact local service people for bids on replacing my dead Honeywell Electric Air Cleaner, is broken.
"You can't do that from our website." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"How do you explain this email?" I said reading him the email that the website said to call if I had not heard from the local contractor in 24-48 hours. (It's been about two-weeks and I've not heard from one of the four contractors.)
"Oh, you must mean the HoneywellatHome website." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said, and asked for my contact information.
"I can give you local service information." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said. "Do you have a pen?" as he starts reading off the information on the webpage...
"The clock on my Honeywell thermostat is going backwards." I said.
"Did you set the time by turning the clock backwards?" the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"No." I said.
"Well, you must have." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"Anyway," I said, "Is there something I can do to fix it?"
"You know," the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said, "we've had so many problems with that clock..."
Today I called them up, to say that their website, which has a page to contact local service people for bids on replacing my dead Honeywell Electric Air Cleaner, is broken.
"You can't do that from our website." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said.
"How do you explain this email?" I said reading him the email that the website said to call if I had not heard from the local contractor in 24-48 hours. (It's been about two-weeks and I've not heard from one of the four contractors.)
"Oh, you must mean the HoneywellatHome website." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said, and asked for my contact information.
"I can give you local service information." the Honeywell Customer Support Specialist said. "Do you have a pen?" as he starts reading off the information on the webpage...