Marc Sigoloff

Many films with gay characters and themes, from the sanctimonious Philadelphia to the incendiary Cruising, have played in local theaters, but few have caused the sensation of Brokeback Mountain. Early on it was tagged “the gay-cowboy movie,” and that seemingly negative label has turned into a marketing goldmine. Now everyone is talking about this good […]

Fay Wray appeared in 96 feature films, but she is so closely linked to King Kong (1933) that the other 95 could be missing from her résumé. Naomi Watts may be following in Wray’s footsteps, but she is not likely to be overshadowed by the big computer-generated ape. Despite her recent rise to stardom, Watts […]

Memoirs of a Geisha brings the Asian cinema to America. Well, not exactly — a Hollywood view could never take the place of homegrown product. Why not see an authentic Asian film instead? Now that Asia has supplanted Europe as the dominant foreign influence on American film, that source is essential viewing for anyone curious […]

Why do so many family movies have to be family movies? Why does the presence of children in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Yours, Mine & Ours mean the films must be dumbed down for children? The best family movies are actually made for adult-minded audiences. The Upside of Anger (2005), the best recent film […]

Christmas may the most eagerly awaited time of year for retailers, but generally it is hated by their employees. I spent nine years of my life in that quagmire, and I certainly don’t miss it now. Retail sales is one of the most misunderstood occupations. Witness the current furor over wages paid to Wal-Mart employees: […]

It was obvious that George Clooney belonged in movies as soon as he burst upon the scene as Ace, an emergency-room technician, in E/R. Have I confused anyone yet? This was back in 1984, 10 years before the better-known ER hit television, and the failure of Elliott Gould’s sitcom didn’t exactly boost Clooney’s career. Clooney’s […]

The political tide has shifted back to ’60-style disenchantment, which could open the door to a return of activism in the movies. Some stars have always spoken their minds, but moving the soapbox to the actual movies may have greater impact. Syriana, a tale of shenanigans in the oil industry that stars George Clooney and […]

Mr. & Mrs. Smith depicts the fantasy world of hired killers in what approaches comic-book silliness. John (Brad Pitt) and Jane (Angelina Jolie) Smith are the world’s deadliest assassins, yet neither knows the other’s true identity. All marriages have their secrets. They work for rival secret organizations that assign them to the same target, which […]

Harry Potter may be dominating the box office, but the real story is the strong opening of Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash biopic. Country music is a subject rarely explored by Hollywood, because the genre often fails to find a market. I am hardly an aficionado of this music form, but good films can […]

More than 50 years have passed since the last movie based on H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, and now, in 2005, there are three new versions. This is a rare opportunity to compare the visions of three filmmakers, or perhaps one with a vision and two in different stages of blindness. The first […]

Writing is a lonely profession, and the subject rarely lends itself to drama. It works if the writer or journalist develops a relationship with a known lunatic, as is the case in two new high-profile films, Capote and Good Night, and Good Luck. For Truman Capote, it was Perry Smith, one of the In Cold […]

The recent passing of Rosa Parks is a reminder of how one person can effect social change. She became an icon in the civil-rights movement by refusing to yield her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955, standing up for what she believed and proving that there are numerous ways to fight injustice. […]