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'Charlie Wilson's War': The Great Game

Metro Silicon Valley | December 20, 2007

Making a hero out of Charlie Wilson is like making a hero out of Oliver North. Scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin's West Wing-bred populism is too slick for its own good; the film insists that our leaders only lie to us for the best reasons.

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Tags: Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson's War

Metro Silicon Valley

Metro was founded in San Jose, Calif., in 1985 and is Santa Clara County's largest weekly newspaper. Metro targets the most desirable consumer-spending segment in one of the nation's wealthiest metropolitan areas -- Silicon Valley. Metro focuses on the 18-to...

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More by Richard von Busack

The Clinician and the Poet in Kay Redfield Jamison Harmonize in 'Nothing Was the Same'new

This is a slim yet profound book, unadorned by fatuous spirituality, by a writer eager neither to conceal nor exaggerate her feelings. It gives grieving its complete due, and at the same time there's nothing at all depressing about it.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 10-15-2009 | Nonfiction

Tags: Kay Redfield Jamison, Nothing Was the Same, memoirs

Quentin Tarantino Upends War Movies with 'Inglourious Basterds'new

Here in cinema form is an essay about Tarantino's mutual fascination with and distaste for the war film. And even if he's a voracious film watcher, he can tell the difference between the passionate but low-budget Samuel Fuller dramas of universal dehumanization and the boring-ass patriotic gore-opera represented by Zoller's film Nation's Pride.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 08-21-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

New Version of 'Easy Virtue' Does no Good for Noel Coward's Reputationnew

It's hard to understand why Stephan Elliott directed Easy Virtue; he is trying to refurbish Noel Coward like a man trying to refurbish an antique with Day-Glo paint.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 05-29-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Easy Virtue, Noel Coward, Stephan Elliott, drama films

More by Richard von Busack »

More by Metro Silicon Valley

Quentin Tarantino Upends War Movies with 'Inglourious Basterds'new

Here in cinema form is an essay about Tarantino's mutual fascination with and distaste for the war film. And even if he's a voracious film watcher, he can tell the difference between the passionate but low-budget Samuel Fuller dramas of universal dehumanization and the boring-ass patriotic gore-opera represented by Zoller's film Nation's Pride.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 08-21-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

New Version of 'Easy Virtue' Does no Good for Noel Coward's Reputationnew

It's hard to understand why Stephan Elliott directed Easy Virtue; he is trying to refurbish Noel Coward like a man trying to refurbish an antique with Day-Glo paint.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 05-29-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Easy Virtue, Noel Coward, Stephan Elliott, drama films

The Sparks Fail to Fly in 'Nights in Rodanthe'new

The plot of Nights in Rodanthe is sheer prefab, a retread of 1940s weepers.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 09-26-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Diane Lane, Nights in Rodanthe, George C. Wolfe, Nicholas Sparks, Richard Gene

'Towelhead': American Uglynew

In Alan Ball's woeful expose of racism and underage sexuality, 13 will get you 20.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 09-18-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Towelhead, Alan Ball

'Lakeview Terrace' Gives Us Straw Men in a 'Straw Dogs' Situationnew

Trying to play Iago and Othello at the same time is a stretch for any actor, even Samuel L. Jackson, and Lakeview Terrace shows one fine urban thespian at his limits.

Metro Silicon Valley | Richard von Busack | 09-18-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Neil LaBute, Samuel L. Jackson, Lakeview Terrace

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'Charlie Wilson's War': The Great Game

Metro Silicon Valley

More by Richard von Busack

The Clinician and the Poet in Kay Redfield Jamison Harmonize in 'Nothing Was the Same'new

Quentin Tarantino Upends War Movies with 'Inglourious Basterds'new

New Version of 'Easy Virtue' Does no Good for Noel Coward's Reputationnew

More by Metro Silicon Valley

Quentin Tarantino Upends War Movies with 'Inglourious Basterds'new

New Version of 'Easy Virtue' Does no Good for Noel Coward's Reputationnew

The Sparks Fail to Fly in 'Nights in Rodanthe'new

'Towelhead': American Uglynew

'Lakeview Terrace' Gives Us Straw Men in a 'Straw Dogs' Situationnew