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Ishtar
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The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (OOP)
(Ross, 1976)
The Devils
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The Pirates of Penzance
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The Fortune
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-30-
(Webb, 1959)
Betrayal
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Play It As It Lays
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The Outfit
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Alex in Wonderland
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The Legend of Lylah Clare
(Aldrich, 1968)
In The Cool of the Day
(Stevens, 1963)
That Cold Day in the Park
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Thumb Trippin'
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Midas Run
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At Long Last Love
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Brewster McCloud
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Outcast of the Islands
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Bad for Each Other
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The Phenix City Story
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Run of the Arrow
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House of Secrets
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Saint Joan
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Macabre
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The Fiend Who Walked the West
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Five Gates to Hell
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The Chapman Report
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Bachelor Flat
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The Chalk Garden
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A Thousand Clowns
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You're a Big Boy Now
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Dark of the Sun
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Skidoo
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Last Summer
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
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Tropic of Cancer
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I Never Sang for My Father
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Sometimes a Great Notion
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Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
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The Music Lovers
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Drive, He Said
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W.C. Fields and Me
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Citizens Band
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Twilight's Last Gleaming
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Looking for Mr. Goodbar
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Girlfriends
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Movie Movie
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American Hot Wax
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Hot Stuff
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Scavenger Hunt
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Players
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Rich Kids
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Nightwing
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Screams of a Winter's Night
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When You Comin' Back Red Ryder?
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The Awakening
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Simon
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God's Angry Man
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Fast-Walking
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Twice Upon a Time
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Trouble in Mind
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When the Wind Blows
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Housekeeping
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The Glass Menagerie
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Patty Hearst
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Drowning by Numbers
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Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
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Prospero's Books
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City of Hope
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The Baby of Macon
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King of the Hill
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SubUrbia
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Upcoming

January 8

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Wonderful World

Youth in Revolt

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Nothing But The Truth's "most striking performance comes from Vera Farmiga, who plays [a] C.I.A. operative called Erica Van Doren," according to a 12.7 article by N.Y. Times contributor Adam Liptak.

Vera Farmiga (l.), Kate Beckinsale (r.) in Rod Lurie's Nothing But The Truth.

"In one scene Van Doren, suspected of leaking her own identity, is given a lie detector test." So director Rod Lurie, looking to help Farmiga get into the experience, says, 'We brought in a real polygraphist to polygraph her. [So] he actually connects her up to the machine and asks her, 'Is your name Erica Van Doren?' and so on."

"Lurie thought that would be good for verisimilitude," Liptak writes. "But it turned out the machine had something to say about the power of Ms. Farmiga's acting. The polygraph operator, Mr. Lurie recalled, pulled him aside afterward and said, 'You're not going to believe this -- the machine says she's telling the truth.'"

Legacy of Greed<< previous | next >>Tight Clock

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 7, 2008 at 10:20 AM

comment #1

DarthCorleone says ...

I took a polygraph. They can be very tough to pass, even when you're telling the truth. As such, they render many false positives, and I've always thought it makes sense that they are inadmissible as evidence. Lying and beating the machine is impressive.

Posted by DarthCorleone at December 7, 2008 11:19 AM

comment #2

smarty says ...

I LOVE Vera Farmiga. If given a chance, she will surely win some awards one day. Never a false note. DOWN TO THE BONE was harrowing but she was so grounded and real.

Posted by smarty at December 7, 2008 11:35 AM

comment #3

clancy says ...

She is better here even than she was in "Down to the Bone". Beckinsale is terrific, but doesn't stand a chance against Farmiga in THAT role. No actress would. Most people I have talked to who have seen the flm - think she deserves the Oscar - but because of its distribution situation, there seems to be no chance.

Posted by clancy at December 7, 2008 11:50 AM

comment #4

lazespud says ...

Ah, baloney ephemera put out there to help sell a movie. I love movie marketing. I'd love to see the actual nugget of truth this dumb anecdote is based on...

I'm hoping this is a great movie; I loved the Contender and pretty much hated "the Last Castle" and "Resurrecting the Champ". But this looks like it might be a return to form for Lurie.

Posted by lazespud at December 7, 2008 12:12 PM

comment #5

lazarus says ...

It's about time the focus of attention on this film moves from Beckinsale to Farmiga. I said it before, no way in hell is the former more impressive acting-wise. More power to her for taking on better roles lately like this and Snow Angels, but bottom line is that she married the director of fucking Underworld, so how much respect can you have in the end?

Posted by lazarus at December 7, 2008 12:57 PM

comment #6

Colin says ...

Well, considering that the polygraph test only tests stress, not truth, it's not surprising that Farminga "passed." That said, she is a terrific actress and was amazing in "Down to the Bone."

I'm pretty interested in seeing this movie because I just wrote an essay on the reporter-source privilege:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1310282

Let's hope that Lurie gets the legal aspects at least mostly right.

Posted by Colin at December 7, 2008 1:22 PM

comment #7

clancy says ...

Colin- Considering the technical expert on the film was Floyd Abrams, I imagine it is right on the money. But I am no expert.

Posted by clancy at December 7, 2008 1:27 PM

comment #8

Colin says ...

Clancy, thanks. I knew he was playing a judge, but I didn't realize until your post that he was also a technical consultant. It looks like this film might actually be one I can show to my students without saying, "You see, this is wrong because..."

Posted by Colin at December 7, 2008 1:35 PM

comment #9