How Hollywood Helped Prepare Us For President Obama

Dargis and Scott: “Of course, we had seen several black presidents already, not in the real White House but in the virtual America of movies and television… in the 47 years since Mr. Obama was born, black men in the movies have traveled from the ghetto to the boardroom, from supporting roles in kitchens, liveries and social-problem movies to the rarefied summit of the Hollywood A-list.”

Jeanne Dielman – The Power Of One Little 34-Year-Old Belgian Movie

“Today the film’s observational strategies – its long takes and scrupulous framing – practically amount to a lingua franca of international art film… Nothing can quite prepare the first-time viewer for the force of [director Chantal] Akerman’s concentration, for the film’s overwhelming concreteness or the horrifying logic of its ending.”