The Tillman Story NYT Critics' Pick

Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin in “The Tillman Story.”
When Heroism Means Finding Truth
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 19, 2010

What soldier, anticipating his death in combat, wouldn’t want to be remembered as a fallen hero who gave his life for his comrades? What grieving family wouldn’t accept the official account, however fraudulent, of a son or daughter’s heroism, stifle their doubts, keep their mouths shut and be content to find some comfort in the ritual honors? More

Soul Kitchen NYT Critics' Pick

Moritz Bleibtreu, left, and Adam Bousdoukos in “Soul Kitchen,” by the Turkish-German director Fatih Akin.
One Restaurant’s History, Spiked Desserts and All
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 19, 2010

Spaghetti, spinach and French fries, all smothered in cream sauce: the menu at Soul Kitchen, a decrepit restaurant in a converted warehouse in an industrial section of Hamburg, Germany, may not be to everyone’s palate. But the place attracts a scraggly following of regulars who exit in a huff after its manager, Zinos Kazantsakis (Adam Bousdoukos), hires Shayn (Birol Ünel), a snooty culinary prima donna, as its new chef. More

The Army of Crime (2009) NYT Critics' Pick

Simon Abkarian, with handgun, as Missak Manouchian, and Robinson Stévenin as another Resistance fighter, in “Army of Crime,” by Robert Guédiguian.
Outsiders in French Society, Battling Occupiers and Collaborators
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: August 19, 2010

The closest person to a protagonist in the gripping historical mosaic “Army of Crime” is the eminent Armenian poet Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian). A militant Communist and hero of the French Resistance, executed by the Nazis in 1944, he is the noblest figure in a sprawling, semifictional movie that has enough characters to fill an entire neighborhood. More

A Film Unfinished NYT Critics' Pick

A scene from Yael Hersonski’s “Film Unfinished,” an investigation into an incomplete Nazi propaganda movie.
An Israeli Finds New Meanings in a Nazi Film
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: August 17, 2010

For almost half a century, an unfinished Nazi propaganda film of the Warsaw Ghetto, simply titled “Das Ghetto” and discovered by East German archivists after the war, was used by scholars and historians as a flawed but authentic record of ghetto life. Shot over 30 days in May 1942 — just two months before deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp would begin — this hourlong silent film juxtaposed random scenes of Jews enjoying various luxuries with images of profound suffering. More

More Sacrifices to Appease the Anger of the Bond Gods!

Appeasing the Bond Gods
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 19, 2010

As I look at what passes for responsible economic policy these days, there’s an analogy that keeps passing through my mind. I know it’s over the top, but here it is anyway: the policy elite — central bankers, finance ministers, politicians who pose as defenders of fiscal virtue — are acting like the priests of some ancient cult, demanding that we engage in human sacrifices to appease the anger of invisible gods. More