Subject: Sean Penn

• Sean Penn wants Fred Phelps and family to "turn in their hate cards"

  I didn't watch the Academy Awards last night. OK, I did for like five minutes (too long). I tuned in just in time to see the "commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns" hand Sean Penn the best actor award for his role in Milk. I was too busy texting "bullshit" to Peter Rugg -- I mean, did you see The Wrestler? -- to listen to Penn's acceptance speech. I should have. He gave a shout-out to America's most hated family, the members of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church, who were picketing the Academy Awar

  February 23, 2009

• Shirley Phelps-Roper talks the Oscars and Obama "the Antichrist"

  Courtesy of the Westboro Baptist ChurchYesterday, Shirley Phelps-Roper was riding on the high of Sean Penn's derision. She was fresh off the plane. Her voice was hoarse. A fire truck was outside the Westboro Baptist Church (crank call). I caught her in the midst of a flurry. The night before, Phelps-Roper and the members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church picketed the Academy Awards. They offended Sean Penn so much that the actor mentioned them in his speech accepting the best actor award.

  February 24, 2009

• Critical Mass

  January 1, 2009

• Milk

  December 11, 2008

• What Just Happened?

  October 30, 2008

• Cannes Class of 2008

  A jury divided unites around Laurent Cantet's schoolhouse drama

  May 29, 2008

• Shots in the Dark

  Reflecting its moment, Cannes 2008 takes a decidedly serious tone

  May 22, 2008

• Presenting the only Cannes awards that really matter: Ours.

  May 22, 2008

• Oscar-Starved

  March 6, 2008

• Wide-Open Spaces

  Sean Penn delivers a soulful road movie and refuses to define his subject.

  October 4, 2007

• Peeping Bomb

  April 12, 2007

• Turning Tricks

  September 14, 2006

• Another Look at a Legend

  October 6, 2005

• Metalists

  They've got the agony -- how 'bout the ecstasy?

  July 14, 2005

• Lost in Translation

  All talk and little action, The Interpreter doesn't even make sense.

  April 21, 2005

• Phantom Menace

  Joel Schumacher's version of a theater classic gets a tragic ending of its own.

  December 23, 2004

• Fahrenheit 2004

  Remembering the movies that heated up cinemas this year.

  December 23, 2004

• Springtime for Hitler

  Der Führer was a dancing fool.

  October 7, 2004

• High Score

  Sometimes the worst movies have the best soundtracks.

  May 6, 2004

• This Weeks Day-by-Day Picks

  January 15, 2004

• Heavy, Man

  The heart wants what the brain has to fight for in 21 Grams.

  December 25, 2003

• All the Rage

  Eastwood takes a guilt trip down the mighty Mystic River.

  October 16, 2003

• Foster Pussycat

  White Oleander is blond but ambitionless.

  October 10, 2002

• Skate or Die

  In the 1970s, the Z-Boys were hell on wheels. Today, they're shredding the big screen.

  May 2, 2002

• Echo

  Madonna

  September 6, 2001

• The Bit Player

  Vincent D'Onofrio may be the best actor of his generation, but who would notice?

  August 24, 2000

• Up at the Villa

  May 18, 2000