At the height of the red scare in 1954, Edward R. Murrow excoriated Senator Joseph McCarthy on CBS. The episode is now depicted powerfully in George Clooney's movie "Good Night, and Good Luck." Among the crusading journalists then working at the network were Joe and Shirley Wershba, who consulted on ...

From A Streetcar Named Desire to Down By Law, what many of us think about when we think about New Orleans is a result of its ongoing portrayal in movies. David Lee Simmons, culture critic for the city's alternative daily, The Gambit, talks with Brooke about the cinematic depictions of ...

For millions of Americans, the final word on the filibuster is Frank Capra s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The 1939 film depicts 24 hours of uninterrupted oratory by a heroic junior Senator, who ultimately succeeds in defeating a corrupt political machine. But Slate senior writer Tim Noah tells Brooke ...

Since its unsolicited selection for the axis of evil, North Korea has largely fulfilled its media role as America's Asian arch-nemesis. But there's at least one place where North Korea's image has been softening - South Korea. Wall Street Journal reporter Gordon Fairclough explains to Bob how the improvement of ...

In the 1940's, the Motion Picture Export Association, aka "the little State Department," went forth to sell the American way of life – not to mention American products – around the world. Toby Miller directs the Program in Film and Visual Culture at the University of California Riverside. He joins ...

This week, the Supreme Court heard the case of MGM v. Grokster, a case which pits the major music and film houses against "peer-to-peer" programs that allow anyone to freely trade material via the Internet. The entertainment industry claims the software makers are arming pirates. The software makers say the ...

Six years ago, fresh from yet another disappointing visit to his local Blockbuster, Bob decided to take matters into his own hands. Armed with little more than an original treatment for a serious film set in the former Yugoslavia, Bob flew west. Here is the story of his mission to ...

In recent years, Pakistani film stars, musicians, and directors have been relocating to Bombay, the center of India's film industry. Some are motivated by improving relations between the nuclear neighbors. But others are simply fleeing a dying industry. OTM's Miranda Kennedy reports from Lahore - otherwise known as "Lollywood" - ...

This weekend The Rocky Horror Picture Show fan club gathers for its annual convention in New York City. Few films can claim Rocky Horror's cult pedigree, but that doesn't mean that they don't try. And as their newfound Hollywood appeal illustrates, the idea of what makes a cult movie is ...

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 opened to blockbuster box offices numbers, making it the highest grossing documentary of all time. But like previous Moore films, it has been criticized as being more of a polemic than a serious work of journalism. Moore is accused of selectively representing the truth with footage ...

In April of 2002 in the Russian city, Togliatti, a newspaper editor was shot to death in his car. Valery Ivanov was murdered following a series of stories in the Togliatti Observer exposing ties between the local mafia, businesses and corrupt law enforcement agencies in the region. Although shocking, the ...

This election season, cinematic fare has taken a decidedly political turn. Maybe it's Michael Moore, maybe it's the so-called politically divided nation, maybe it's that filmmakers can say what campaign advertisers cannot. Brooke explores the new tide of political documentaries and features, and their impact

Production costs are usually the main barrier between filmmakers and a large audience of viewers. But until recently, even well-funded docs had to settle for extremely limited distribution opportunities. Then came the independent film revolution of the 1990's, Michael Moore, and the art-house multiplex. Bob speaks with film historian Peter ...

Early next month, a new film opens called the Stepford Wives. Not that there hasn't been a "Stepford Wives" before. And finishing now for an imminent release is "The Manchurian Candidate." Sound familiar? And coming up early next year? King Kong! Raiding and retreading old movie classics is in itself, ...

Five decades since he first stomped across the silver screen, the rampaging reptile is still going strong. To commemorate the great lizard's golden anniversary, a restored print of the original Japanese version is now stomping through selected theatres across the country. Many critics say it's far less campy than the ...

Try as civilized society might to kill them, zombies just won't die. This week, the flesh-eating resurrected returned once again to the silver screen. The much-anticipated remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead includes some new and improved special effects, but the dead are still dead, and the story ...

Thirty years ago, Francois Truffaut's Day for Night took the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It was hardly the last film that spun the camera back on the moviemaking process itself. But in the years since, it's hard to find a movie that casts such an adoring eye on its ...

Under stepped-up pressure from north of the border, the Mexican government has begun cracking down on movie piracy. But at the same time, some DVD distributors are trying a new tack. They are selling legal DVDs to street vendors for less than the price-tags on the faked copies. OTM's Marianne ...

Many have had the experience of going to see a movie that doesn't live up to the trailer created to sell it. By condensing a film so extremely and setting its highlights to music, trailers exaggerate a movie's drama, humor, and overall quality. But a recent contest invited editors to ...

Six years ago, fresh from yet another disappointing visit to his local Blockbuster, Bob decided to take matters into his own hands. Armed with little more than an original treatment for a serious film set in the former Yugoslavia, Bob flew west. Here is the story of his mission to ...