Ella Taylor

It Takes A (Gay) Village In 'Call Me Kuchu'

Ella Taylor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:56:50 +0000

Horrific and uplifting, the excellent documentary Call Me Kuchu is partly framed as a portrait of David Kato, Uganda's first openly gay man. An activist of enormous courage and persistence — against odds that make the U.S. fight for marriage equality seem like a cakewalk — Kato was a savvy political strategist, with wit, charm and joie de vivre to burn. And he loved a good party, with his friends in drag where possible.

Anarchists Tempt A 1 Percenter In 'The East'

Ella Taylor — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:16:34 +0000

In The East, a slightly batty, weirdly involving new thriller about corporate espionage and eco-terrorism, rising star Brit Marling (last seen as Richard Gere's daughter in the drama Arbitrage) plays Sarah, an ambitious young private intelligence operative and former FBI agent.

To 'Fill The Void,' A Choice With A Personal Cost

Ella Taylor — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:38:36 +0000

Driving home from a screening of the ravishing new Israeli film Fill the Void, I caught sight of a young man in full Hasidic garb, trying to coax his toddler son across a busy Los Angeles street.

Greta Gerwig, Blithely Spirited As 'Frances Ha'

Ella Taylor — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:09:57 +0000

Long a darling of the New York indie scene, Noah Baumbach came to filmmaking with a solid pedigree: His father is a film theorist and his mother was a movie critic at the Village Voice (where I've contributed myself).

But after his first hit comedy, Kicking and Screaming, the writer-director developed a habit not uncommon among novice filmmakers: He mistook clever disdain for insight.

'Re-Emerging': In Nigeria, A People Finds A Faith

Ella Taylor — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:06:53 +0000

If you believe religions are made, not born, it may not come as much of a surprise that Shmuel, a handsome, sweet-faced young Nigerian, considers himself Jewish.

Shmuel, the charming, yarmulke-wearing Exhibit A in Jeff L. Lieberman's documentary, Re-emerging: The Jews of Nigeria, found his faith through the Internet. But his is no fly-by-night cult. His adopted community of practicing Jews numbers between 5,000 and 10,000, with a fully functioning network of synagogues dotted around Nigeria.

'Venus And Serena': Champs Atop Their Game

Ella Taylor — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:59:47 +0000

What's left to know about Venus and Serena Williams? Probably not much that the tennis titans would be willing to share, given how heavily exposed they've been already, and how eager the press has been to wedge the sisters into ready-made narratives about race, celebrity and the daughters of a Svengali.

The lively if slightly worshipful new documentary Venus and Serena breaks little new ground in this regard.

'Love Is All You Need,' Unless Character Matters

Ella Taylor — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:29:31 +0000

When a husband steps out on his wife while she's getting chemo, she's entitled to a weekend in the Mediterranean with Pierce Brosnan, right?

Right, but I believe he went there quite recently with Meryl Streep, did he not, albeit without the cancer? I didn't much care for Mamma Mia!, but the garish musical at least embraced its vulgarity with a full heart and a toe-tapping ABBA soundtrack.

Between Worlds, A 'Reluctant Fundamentalist'

Ella Taylor — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:59:20 +0000

Coming as it does amid intense public debate about the alienation of immigrants in America, the release of Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist is both timely and slightly eerie.

The movie, based on a well-received novel by Mohsin Hamid, charts the political and spiritual journey of Changez, a driven young Pakistani who arrives in New York determined to succeed, American-style.

As new immigrants go, Changez — played by charismatic British actor-rapper Riz Ahmed, who has liquid black eyes and a soulful stare that gets right under your skin — is unusually privileged.

'At Any Price': What Cost A Win?

Ella Taylor — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:11:12 +0000

Like last year's fracking drama Promised Land, the new movie At Any Price is about farm people getting pushed around by corporations — except that there's no Matt Damon to rescue them, cleanse his soul and snag Rosemarie DeWitt in the bargain.

Indie director Ramin Bahrani's first Hollywood picture is far from a David-and-Goliath story, though, and it's certainly not The Waltons Face Down Monsanto.

A 'House' Divided, Over Stories Lived And Told

Ella Taylor — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:29:16 +0000

Among the semi-literate journals submitted by his high-school students, jaded French literature teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) is jazzed to find a rough diamond from a new pupil, Claude (Ernst Umhauer).

In weekly installments, the ingratiating but enigmatic teenager, who looks as though he just stepped out of a Pasolini movie, chronicles his efforts to insinuate himself into the family of one his classmates, an amiable but awkward underachiever named Rapha (Bastien Ughetto).

Recognizing a potential talent, Germain, a failed novelist and champion of the classics, begins to nurture the bo