This article first appeared hereRunning away to join the circus generally isn’t the best way to deal with your problems. But sometimes it’s the only way available to you.That’s the situation faced by Jacob Jankowski in Water for Elephants, a touring musical now playing at Columbus’s Ohio Theatre.We…

This article first appeared on Reeltime with RIchard AdesThe past year has been a scary one for Americans who believe in freedom of the press. Faced with an autocratic president who works to stifle his critics with a combination of favors, threats, lawsuits and every other means at his disposal,…

This article first appeared online at Reel TIme with Richard Ades.There was a time when Americans could watch political dramas like Two Prosecutors—set during the Stalinist purges of 1930s Russia—without feeling like we’re foreseeing our own future.Since the film was written and directed by Ukraine…

Of the five films up for an international Oscar, Sirat is by far the most unsettling.I say that without fear of contradiction, even though I have yet to see most of its competitors. Watching Spain’s nominee is simply the kind of nerve-wracking experience that few films can match.French-born…