movies

The Real Fault of San Andreas Is How It Maligns Californians

Even This Jaded Journalist Was Shaken By the Cynicism In Hollywood's Latest Disaster Movie

After sitting through a matinee of the new earthquake disaster movie San Andreas, I experienced my own dark seismic fantasy: as the Big One hits California, a giant hole opens up in the ground under Burbank, and Warner Bros. disappears into it forever.

I had been prepared—by the foreshocks of advance publicity—for Warner’s San Andreas to be a dumb film full of pseudoscientific nonsense about earthquakes. But San Andreas is much worse than that. Even for a jaded journalist, the film is so profoundly cynical and callous that to call …

by Joe Mathews |

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Why I Won’t Wear War Paint and Feathers in a Movie Again

As a Navajo Actor, I’ve Learned Where Hollywood Likes to Stick Its “Indian” Roles—and Where to Find Real Native American Creativity Onscreen

by Brian Young |

At some point, every Native American actor comes to a career crossroads and has to answer the question: Do I participate in stereotyping or maintain my cultural integrity?

As a …

Ritchie Valens, Selena, and Filming the American Dream

Producer Moctesuma Esparza and Writer-Director Luis Valdez Talk About How to Tell Stories that Reflect the Reality of America Today

by Jia-Rui Cook |

How can a movie with a Mexican-American theme tell the story of all America? Why aren’t there more movies that reflect the increasingly complex racial and ethnic demography of our …

The Dichotomy of ‘The Duke’

Onscreen, John Wayne Embodied the American Man at His Best and Worst

by Scott Eyman |

First, the backstory, which happens to be true.

In 1972, I was 21 years old, living in my native Ohio, and had come to the conclusion that if I wanted to …

Movies’ Most Memorable Mexican-American Moments

From Stand and Deliver to Giant, These Are Hollywood's Strongest Cinematic Depictions of America’s Third Largest Ethnic Group

For better or for worse, when many Americans think about Italian-Americans, they think of The Godfather. When it comes to Irish-Americans, it’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And for Chinese-Americans, …

Black List CEO Franklin Leonard

In Retrospect, I Get Why Kids Called Me ‘Urkel’

Franklin Leonard is founder and CEO of The Black List, an annual report on the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Before participating in a discussion of the lack of …


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