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'Bel Ami': Period Drama Skips The Small Talk

Credit Magnolia Pictures

The once-penniless Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) maneuvers his way to the top of Paris society by wooing and bedding the city's best-connected women — among them the influential Madame de Marelle (Christina Ricci.)

By Mark Jenkins

Words, words, words: Novels, especially 19th-century ones, are full of the damned things, which can be an inconvenience for filmmakers doing adaptations.

Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, theater veterans making their cinematic debut with Bel Ami, try to downplay language, which seems a promising idea. But the strategy fails for several reasons, the foremost of which is their leading man.

4:03 pm

Thu June 7, 2012

'Dark Horse': Love Among The Deeply Damaged

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Credit Jojo Whilden /

Abe (Jordan Gelber) and Miranda (Selma Blair) meet at a wedding in Dark Horse and get married soon after, though not for the most romantic reasons.

Credit Jojo Whilden /

Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken play Phyllis and Jackie, Abe's parents and — in Jackie's case — his employer.

By editor

Originally published on Fri June 8, 2012 12:41 pm

For Abe (Jordan Gelber), there is one simple truth in life: "We're all horrible people."

He articulates this insight in Todd Solondz's new film Dark Horse, while on a painfully awkward date with Miranda (Selma Blair), a chronically depressed woman he meets at a wedding reception, where both of them look on glumly at everyone else dancing and having a good time.

4:00 pm

Thu June 7, 2012

Abortion-Rights Advocates Pin Hopes On Defense Bill

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), center, speaks as Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), right, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) at a April news conference on Capitol Hill.

By Julie Rovner

Since Republicans took back the U.S. House in the 2010 elections, abortion has been a fairly constant theme. The House took eight separate abortion-related votes in 2011 — the most in a decade, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America.

3:54 pm

Thu June 7, 2012

Cold Specks: Singing The 'Graceful' Blues

Credit Courtesy of the artist

Cold Specks' Al Spx.

By Art Levy

Al Spx was studying English Literature at the University of Toronto when she came across a line from James Joyce's Ulysses: "Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil lights shining in the darkness." The phrase "cold specks" sparked a fire of inspiration, and Spx knew immediately that she had found the perfect name for the songs she was writing on the side.

3:18 pm

Thu June 7, 2012

Damon Lindelof Risks The Wrath Of Loyal Fans Again

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Credit Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Damon Lindelof moderated a conversation with Charlize Theron, who stars in the new Ridley Scott thriller Prometheus, at the 2011 Comic-Con. Lindelof co-wrote the film.

Credit Kerry Brown / 20th Century Fox

Logan Marshall-Green (left), Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender also star in the film, which opens in the U.S. June 8.

By editor

Originally published on Thu June 7, 2012 6:35 pm

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Damon Lindelof was a producer on the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, which seemed to win over loyal Trekkies. And this weekend Lindelof will earn the devotion — or wrath — of Alien fans. He helped write the screenplay for the new film Prometheus, an origin story for Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi classic.

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