Richard Corliss : (8)

" ‘The Birth of a Nation’ occupies a view of the South not far from Scarlett O’Hara’s in ‘Gone With the Wind,’ and modern audiences have to wrestle with that beloved movie’s romanticizing of racism. " - Richard Corliss

" Jolie’s exotic mixture of brains and glamour makes her the one reliable international star, and one of the few of either gender to make people in every country pay to see her. " - Richard Corliss

" Obamacare notwithstanding, the current president’s progressive instincts have been neutered by the rise of the Tea Party and Luddite conservatism. " - Richard Corliss

" If you think of the 1930s in film as the decade of Gable and Lombard, Cagney and Harlow, Stanwyck and the Marx Brothers, think again. The biggest star – No. 1 in the 1936, ’37 and ’38 exhibitor polls – was a three-time box-office champ before she was 10. Shirley Temple, singer, dancer, and prime exemplar of Movie Cute, owned the ’30s. " - Richard Corliss

" You may debate whether the Disney heroines fit the feminist standard, but they don’t live in a democracy. Remember, they’re princesses. " - Richard Corliss

" In ‘Serena,’ stuff happens, then nastier stuff, without ever engaging the viewer’s rooting interest or sick fear. Sometimes it’s a question of sloppiness on the set or in the editing room. " - Richard Corliss

" After two terms as California’s Governator, Schwarzenegger slipped comfortably back into pictures with ‘The Last Stand,’ a modern Western, then crammed into the wide screen, as if it were a service elevator, with fellow ’80s muscle car Sylvester Stallone in ‘Escape Plan.’ " - Richard Corliss

" Hollywood has always seen Sondheim as a caviar brand unsuitable for a popcorn industry. " - Richard Corliss