Ballast (movie)

"Cadillac Records," "Miracle at St. Anna," "The Secret Life of Bees," "Seven Pounds" and "Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys" were nominated today for the 40th NAACP Image Award for outstanding motion picture. On the television front, "30 Rock,"...

From Batman and Iron Man to Hancock and the Hulk, superheroes ruled the box office in 2008. Even audience action favorites Indiana Jones and James Bond had to take a backseat to '' The Dark Knight,'' Christopher Nolan's extravaganza, which swooped away...

Ten-best lists are often ranked, but I prefer to avoid that misery if I can. It's like ranking your children: Even if you could do it with a degree of accuracy, the very act spreads more unhappiness than joy. But while slots two to 10 will be listed...

Baz Luhrmann, writer-director of the adventure epic "Australia," calls the decision his "biggest risk -- by far, the biggest risk -- in a film in which every risk was big." Speaking from Rome, where he was premiering the $130-million historic action...

Anne Hathaway's family drama " Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" led nominees Tuesday for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees...

Rachel is getting more than married: She has six nominations for Film Independent's Spirit Awards. " Rachel Getting Married," wherein an addict played by Anne Hathaway leaves rehab for her sister's wedding, was joined by suicide drama "Ballast" and...

"Ballast," an austere drama about a grieving man who forms a bond with a woman and her young son, "Frozen River," a somber tale about the relationship between two poverty-stricken women, and "Rachel Getting Married," an intimate drama about a young...

"Ballast" **** (Lance Hammer, U.S.; 1:36) 8:20 p.m. Mon., AMC River East A patient, observant gem, Hammer's film was shot in the Mississippi Delta with an unknown cast of amateur and professional actors, and although its rhythm may prove daunting...

I love " Ballast," and I want to be careful not to oversell writer-director Lance Hammer's achievement or mischaracterize this gentle, patient picture's qualities. A couple of the dramatic scenes don't come off—they are a little blunt in the...

Three among many: " Ballast" (U.S.), directed by Lance Hammer. Like " Frozen River," this plaintive gem, set in a wintry, foreign-seeming patch of the Mississippi Delta, finds more truthful drama along America's poverty line than you tend to find in a...

This year the Chicago International Film Festival—the 44th, beginning Thursday and continuing through Oct. 29—stands an excellent chance of looking, feeling and unspooling like a festival, rather than a collection of far-flung festival...

next friday Ballast (Strand Releasing) A single mom on the Mississippi Delta copes with a man from her past while struggling to raise her son. With Tarra Riggs and JimMyron Ross. Let the Right One In (Magnolia Pictures) A 12-year-old bullied boy finds...