by Jack Brown | Aug 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
Valley residents have never shied away from political activism. Issues of equality, discrimination, and civil liberty — and the many protests, marches, and rallies that often come with those issues — have always found a wealth of open hearts and open ears here. But...
by Jack Brown | Aug 12, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
In a few short months — smack in the middle of the holiday season, as it happens — we’ll get the gift of a new Star Wars movie. The hope is that director J.J. Abrams can give the franchise the kick in the pants that it so desperately needs after the disaster of the...
by Jack Brown | Aug 4, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
It was just a few weeks ago that this column looked at the resurrection of the superhero movie, something I largely attributed to the success of the Iron Man franchise — its billions in box office provided a sort of force field that allowed other, lesser-known,...
by Jack Brown | Jul 28, 2015 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
As the summer swelters on — as I write this, it is a muggy 78 degrees long after sundown — my thoughts turn to blockbusters. It’s surely no coincidence that the biggest and loudest of our high-gloss spectacles are pushed out during the height of summer. Their promise...
by Jack Brown | Jul 22, 2015 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film
It’s long been a cliché that film buffs love foreign film. As a stereotype, it’s up there with the Frenchman’s baguette or a private detective’s desk-drawer bottle of scotch. (I defy anyone to show me a scene where a hard-boiled P.I. pulls anything else out of that...