Years before Lin-Manuel Miranda cemented his place in the pantheon of musical theater by creating an unlikely sensation with the adaptation of a weighty historical biography, he worked with playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes to tell a story that took place … Continue reading Now Playing — In the Heights
I argue, with some regularity, that modern Hollywood horror films falter in large part because they don’t take their scenarios seriously. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It has me thinking I might be wrong about that. The new … Continue reading Now Playing — The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. One of the main things I miss about haunting my local movie theater is the procession of … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Where the Wild Things Are trailer
For a long time, Clint Eastwood’s directorial career was seen as a lark, an indulgence to keep a movie star happy so he’d occasionally acquiesce to playing Harry Callahan again. Across his first twelve films as a director, Eastwood’s films … Continue reading Actors’ Director — Clint Eastwood
‘Whoa, this is crazy’: L.A. teen punks the Linda Lindas on going viral (just before finals) by August Brown Playing at the L.A. Public Library is the new South by Southwest, it seems. The live set by youthful punk act … Continue reading Outside Reading — We Rebuild What You Destroy edition
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. As the Hollywood hype machine does its thing, desperately attempting to revive the practice of summer moviegoing, … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade teaser trailer
Sinead O’Connor Remembers Things Differently by Amanda Hess This fantastic profile of Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor, who also goes by the name Shuhada Sadaqat, offers a definitive, paper-of-record pardon of the artist’s notorious rending of a religious figure’s photograph. Better … Continue reading Outside Reading — Very Much an Irish Woman edition
As part of his starring role in the 1974 caper flick 11 Harrowhouse, Charles Grodin provides the narration. His character is introduced while sitting glumly in a posh waiting area. Grodin’s distinctive voice flatly states: “That’s me there. I don’t … Continue reading Charles Grodin, 1935 – 2021
Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó, 2020). Pieces of Woman is meant to be a real gut punch of drama. It depicts the repercussions on a marriage when a home birth ends in tragedy. Martha (Vanessa Kirby) is Martha, a … Continue reading Then Playing — Pieces of a Woman; 9to5: The Story of a Movement; The Witches of the Orient
When I devoted myself wholeheartedly to the television series St. Elsewhere, I didn’t know that the actor who donned Dr. Daniel Auschlander’s white coat brought practically the whole history of Hollywood with him. I just knew the performance was flinty … Continue reading Norman Lloyd, 1914 – 2021
