Extra, extra credit There are 100,000 credit card transactions per minute in the United States, and Americans carry nearly $1 trillion in credit card debt. Plastic has become as much a part of the American way as Mom, apple pie, and the flag. At least two of those items you can purchase with a credit card. (Page G6, 513 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 24, 2009

Many images show a singular approach It’s a pretty funny joke. Harry Callahan must have the most recognized name of any photographer in history - except it’s not because of his photography. It’s because he shares the name with Clint Eastwood’s most famous character. (Page N3, 666 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 22, 2009

When the wall came down When the Berlin Wall fell it was as if a John le Carré novel had suddenly been turned inside out and staged as a giant party. One could almost imagine Smiley actually smiling. Watched worldwide, the party took place at what had been the starkest flash point between East and West. An event that had previously seemed unimaginable now looks ... (Page G9, 715 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 14, 2009

Dualities inspire Lebanon images Dualism, which has informed Rania Matar’s life, also defines her work. Born and raised in Lebanon, Matar has long lived in the United States (she studied at the New England School of Photography and the Maine Photographic Workshops). The interplay of East and West is evident throughout the 26 photographs in “Rania Matar: Ordinary Lives,’’ which runs at the Gallery ... (Page G8, 608 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 7, 2009

Hairline fracture There were three of us in the car: Alex, Wesley, and me. A colleague had just announced he was leaving journalism. This became the chief topic of conversation. Being journalists, which means inveterate complainers, we had no problem finding fault. Things got reasonably ugly reasonably fast. Finally, I’d had enough. With uncharacteristic charity, I sought to praise this person - ... (Page G22, 728 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 16, 2009

A focus on cinematographer The name “movies’’ is misleading. Before they are anything else, movies are appearance, not motion. That being the case, few people alive have so fundamentally affected the movies - have so influenced their appearance - as the cinematographer Gordon Willis. So fundamentally or so variously: The warm and sinister earth tones of the “Godfather’’ pictures could hardly be more different ... (Page G6, 725 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 14, 2009

To life! This year the Boston Jewish Film Festival has put together a panel discussion called “Losing My Religion,’’ which essentially is about what it means to be a Jew. Isn’t that essentially the question that this shrewdly programmed event has asked for most of its 21 years? Asking aloud never hurts, especially since many of the 2009 festival’s 40 features and ... (Page N9, 1331 words)By: Ty Burr, Mark Feeney, and Wesley Morris|Date: Nov 1, 2009

Styles all their own SALEM - I can cite, nearly to the minute and inch, my most overwhelming firsthand encounter with true style. It occurred around 3 o’clock on the afternoon of Sept. 7, 2001, in the Upper East Side apartment of the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. I can cite it so precisely because, afterward, you don’t forget being in New ... (Page G4, 1243 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 24, 2009

Robert Taylor, for many years The Boston Globe’s chief art and book critic, died Sunday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was 84. (Page B14, 1352 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 27, 2009

Ship to shore My favorite uncle was a merchant seaman. He died six years ago (can it really be that long?), and I’m his executor. Going through some papers recently, my wife came across a listing of all his berths prepared by the maritime union. It was a strange experience to see someone’s life and whereabouts laid out at length like that and ... (Page G22, 742 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 19, 2009

More than a Game Here’s how post-industrial economics works. Akron, Ohio, used to be famous as the home of the US rubber industry. Now it’s famous as the home of LeBron James, the NBA superstar. Akron is the setting for “More Than a Game,’’ an often slick and just as often emotionally involving documentary about James’s pre-NBA career. More than just a sports documentary, ... (Page G8, 589 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 16, 2009

A full spectrum FRAMINGHAM - Phillip Prodger and Barbara O’Brien, the jurors for the Danforth Museum of Art’s “New England Photography Biennial 2009,’’ sorted through more than 1,000 submissions before arriving at the 72 images that make up the show. It runs through Nov. 8. (Page G4, 753 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 10, 2009

Hollywood's love affair with aviation has had its ups, downs It’s a big year for Amelia Earhart onscreen. In the “Night at the Museum’’ sequel Amy Adams played America’s favorite missing aviatrix for laughs. In “Amelia,’’ which opens Friday, Hilary Swank plays her in hopes of another best actress Oscar. (Page N9, 1430 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 18, 2009

Act of God The chances of being hit by lightning are 1 in 700,000. Or so says one of the interview subjects in Jennifer Baichwal’s solid and offbeat documentary “Act of God.’’ He presumably knows, since he’s survived a lightning strike. Lightning, even more as metaphysical puzzle than meteorological spectacle, is the film’s subject. (Page G11, 398 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 8, 2009

Irving Penn, whose photographs made high art out of high fashion and whose mastery of the medium extended to portraits, still lifes, and nudes, died yesterday at his Manhattan home. He was 92. (Page B14, 1217 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 8, 2009

Boston festivals show global reach What do Uma Thurman, Stanley Donen, James Ellroy, and the CEO of Stonyfield Farm have in common? They’re all part of this fall’s lineup of local festivals and special film events. (Page N22, 735 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 13, 2009

Captain Abu Raed Abu Raed (Nadim Sawalha) is a janitor at Amman’s airport. One day he wears home a discarded airline captain’s cap. Neighborhood children decide he must be a pilot and start following him around. He beguiles them with tales of flight. (Page G8, 339 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Aug 28, 2009

Still Walking Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Still Walking’’ begins with the sound of vegetables being peeled and ends with a view of the ocean. The mundane (and necessary) juxtaposed with the eternal (and life-giving): What better way to frame a family drama? In between comes a work whose simplicity and restraint recall the films of Yasujiro Ozu - even as a concluding crane shot ... (Page G14, 426 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 18, 2009

The Burning Plain Early on in “The Burning Plain,’’ Charlize Theron tells a friend that she has a new beau. “Do I know him?’’ the friend asks - then quickly adds, “Do you ?’’ It’s a great line, indicating everything we need to know about how unmoored Theron’s character is. (Page G19, 427 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 18, 2009

A revolver sits on a desk. Its presence there takes a moment to register, since the room has such a high ceiling and the wall behind the desk (which dominates the photograph you’re looking at) is bare but for a clock and a small image of a saint. (Page N4, 542 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 27, 2009

Weighed down by past burdens WINCHESTER - Each of the three shows currently at the Griffin Museum of Photography is problematic. Taken together, though, they make for inspired, and instructive, programming. They run through Nov. 1. (Page G7, 852 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Oct 3, 2009

This year’s Model What made Lisette Model’s reputation was a series of photographs she took on the French Riviera in the 1930s. They offered an unsparing view of well-fed self-indulgence - the good life as grotesquerie - along the Promenade des Anglais. A New York newspaper published them in 1941 under the headline “Why France Fell.’’ (Page G4, 900 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 12, 2009

The Window Writer-director Carlos Sorin’s “The Window’’ begins with a dream and ends with a kind of sleep. In between, the events of a momentous day unfold with minimal melodrama and keen observation. (Page G16, 253 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Sep 4, 2009

Summarizing the summer Unless you liked to watch the box office, summer 2009 was largely a season to forget. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’’ was the big winner, pulling in nearly $400 million domestically, so movies based on action figures aren’t going away any time soon. Judd Apatow’s winning streak came to a halt when he tried to get serious with “Funny People.’’ ... (Page N7, 1117 words)By: Ty Burr, Mark Feeney, and Wesley Morris|Date: Aug 30, 2009

’GBH and Julia On Saturday, WGBH will begin airing old episodes of Julia Child’s “The French Chef’’ weekly at 12:30 p.m. The station has occasionally broadcast multiple episodes on special occasions, but now the series is back as part of Channel 2’s regular Saturday afternoon cooking lineup. Ron Bachman, the station’s director of programming, recently talked about bringing back Julia. (Page G3, 509 words)By: Mark Feeney|Date: Nov 4, 2009