Mark Jenkins
Mark Jenkins reviews movies for NPR.org, as well as for , which covers the Washington, D.C., film scene with an emphasis on art, foreign and repertory cinema.
Jenkins spent most of his career in the industry once known as newspapers, working as an editor, writer, art director, graphic artist and circulation director, among other things, for various papers that are now dead or close to it.
He covers popular and semi-popular music for The Washington Post, Blurt, Time Out New York, and the newsmagazine show Metro Connection, which airs on member station -FM.
Jenkins is co-author, with Mark Andersen, of Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. At one time or another, he has written about music for Rolling Stone, Slate, and NPR's All Things Considered, among other outlets.
He has also written about architecture and urbanism for various publications, and is a writer and consulting editor for the Time Out travel guide to Washington. He lives in Washington.
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With Divergent, Hollywood turns to another hit young-adult trilogy for inspiration. Shailene Woodley stars as a 16-year-old searching for her place in a divided dystopian society. -
A new 3-D take on a formative Russian war story has its impressive moments, but ultimately feels contrived and confusing.
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With an eye on an international audience, this Shanghai-set adaptation of the 18th-century French novel focuses most of its energy on being visually appealing. Critic Mark Jenkins says the setting of the film isn't entirely justified — but it does serve as a glossily seductive distraction. -
Eric Lartigau's French psychological drama follows an aspiring photographer who assumes another man's identity. While the plot may lend itself to the tropes of a thriller, critic Mark Jenkins says it is more focused on the quiet, internal mechanisms of the protagonist's mind. -
Kirby Dick's documentary exposes an epidemic of sexual assault in the U.S. military, where an estimated 20 percent of women have been victims of an attack. Critic Mark Jenkins says Dick's direct approach to the material makes for a wrenching film.(Recommended) -
The latest from French director Philippe Garrel finds three actors and a painter sharing an apartment, with much jealousy and strife as a result. Critic Mark Jenkins finds little heat, however, in a film notable mostly for its cast and crew. -
In his debut feature, writer-director Mathieu Demy, son of filmmakers Jacques Demy and Agnes Varda, stars as a man trying to settle his recently deceased mother's affairs. Critic Mark Jenkins says that Americano's plot occasionally falters, but as a mood piece it gets the tone just right. -
A lush costume drama based on the Guy de Maupassant novel chronicles the adventures of a broodingly beautiful young man (Robert Pattinson) who uses the women of Paris to climb to the pinnacle of power. -
Two of Earth's most unspoiled rivers are targeted for a hydroelectric project in Chile's fabled Patagonia region. Brian Lilla's documentary interrogates whether the project's upside is worth the risks — and illustrates the stakes for the gauchos who live and work in the rivers' valleys. -
A documentary on "breast-cancer culture" critiques the pink-ribbon movement, questioning its corporate links and its dubious results record. Critic Mark Jenkins says the film is unapologetically provocative, yet far from a definitive take.
