Despite being in its third incarceration, VH1’s “I Love the 80s” has yet to touch on the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace. The rise and fall of ’80s hair metal is acceptable, but a life-changing court case is not?

After all, the case of Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., in which a woman filed a class-action sexual harassment lawsuit, was the inspiration for the recently opened film “North Country.”

After the incredible success of an artist’s first release, it is often the case that the second attempt in the art world is a letdown. “Odete,” which won a Cinémas de Recherche – Special Mention at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, gives continuity to that feared “one-hit wonder” tendency.

Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues’ last feature film, “O Fantasma” (2000), was an extremely original and organic exploration of human sexuality that took the festival circuit by surprise and gained cult status throughout Europe.

Every few years or so a film comes out that redefines a genre. Martin Scorsese’s latest drama, “The Departed,” accomplished just this. With an extremely well-written screenplay, a terrific cast and the best director to never win an Oscar, “The Departed” gives introduces a new age of gritty cop dramas.

Based off of the 2002 Hong Kong film, “Wu jian dao,” and set in south Boston, it is the story of undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is given the assignment of infiltrating an Irish-American organized crime ring headed by Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson).

In the creation of a film, there is supposed a strong cohesive vision to which all of the collaborators conform and apply their ideas.

Whether it is a cheesy action film or a dark comedy, the cast, crew and director share a sense of where the movie is going and how it will speak to the audience.

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina came to the UWM Theatre Oct. 17 with a screening of Sam Pollard and Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.”

People packed in, lining the back and side walls for a chance to see this moving documentary. The Sociocultural Programming, Community Media Project and UWM Film Department co-sponsored the screening, and Pollard himself was in attendance to answer questions and present the documentary.

Any imagining of the future is almost always as far from idyllic as you can possibly get.

Greater technology has not improved living conditions, because with that technology comes serious ethical questions. Can we trust anyone to use these things for benefit and not for harm?

What appeared to be just another political movie about the horrors of an African government turned out to show the audience a different side of a ruthless dictator.

Forest Whitaker gives a career-changing performance in “The Last King of Scotland” when he takes on the character of former Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin. History portrays the man as a disturbing killer who murdered anyone in his path. What is left out is how friendly and likeable this dictator was.

First off I will say that I have quite a man-crush on Ryan Reynolds. So if you think I have ulterior motives to the review for “Smokin’ Aces,” you’d be right. If only we could watch the Super Bowl together next weekend and eat some chili cheese fries.

I still have mixed feelings about this film directed by Joe Carnahan. I really can’t decide if I like it or not. It seems to be more of a problem I have with how the film was marketed.

At long final last "Spider-Man 3" has hit theaters. With its largest budget to date, how does Spidey hold up at his third go on the screen?

The answer is surprisingly well, albeit a few bumps here and there.