My first instinct upon seeing Under the Skin, the latest from director Jonathan Glazer, was that I’d never seen another movie like it, not really. But then my mind filled up with comparisons, in part, no doubt, in a probably … Continue reading Use your mentality, wake up to reality
#38 — Pat and Mike (George Cukor, 1952) Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. That, of course, is the pairing, the classic onscreen team that effectively defined the wonder of ever elusive cinematic chemistry, even for those who’ve not seen one of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Thirty-Eight
Besides the weekly radio show, my cohort and I occasionally experimented with slightly different ways to deliver reviews over the air, especially after I graduated and holding down a hourlong block that would be better devoted to students seemed wrong to me. Hence the creation of “Reel Thing Reports,” a prerecorded segment lasting only a few minutes that was dropped in a couple times per day. It kept our reviews on the air, but the lack of interplay between the two of us made for a less satisfying chunk of programming. It also keyed me to in to how much … Continue reading From the Archive: Last Action Hero
Face front, True Believers. Who can doubt that this is indeed the Marvel Age of Movies? The comic book publisher that effectively launched their long climb to multi-media dominance over fifty years ago with the release of Fantastic Four #1 … Continue reading Time, time, time, see what’s become of me
This review originally appeared in my original online home. This wasn’t the first full review I posted there, but I tend to think of this as the piece that made me decide I was going to commit to writing about film on a regular basis in that space. I felt more like I was tinkering with the previous reviews I’d included there (including my assessment of The Constant Gardener, which this was coupled with, explained the “Then there…” that opens the review), but this effort helped me rediscover the pleasure of grappling with a movie, breaking apart what did and … Continue reading From the Archive: The Aristocrats
Spending Saturdays revisiting old–sometimes very old–reviews means regular reminders of films I’d completely and totally forgotten about. This goofy sci-fi action flick hasn’t crossed my mind in years. Maybe decades in the more accurate measurement of time. For what it’s worth, my view of Dolph Lundgren’s acting abilities mellowed quite a bit from the scathing assessment below, I think in part from cable viewings of this very film. My archeological commitment to preserving the original writing with only the most superficial changes compels me to keep in a complete atrociously convoluted sentences. I do not stand by them. My original … Continue reading From the Archive: I Come in Peace
#39 — Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952) As I’ve tried to admit–sheepishly but honestly–throughout the course of this long project, I have certain blind spots when evaluating the history of film. I stand by my opinions and feel they’re … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Thirty-Nine
#40 — His Kind of Woman (John Farrow, 1951) There’s so much messiness to sort through with His Kind of Woman that it makes the inclusion on any sort of best list a bit of a marvel. And of course … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty
#15 — Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells in Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer, 1979) By now, it’s firmly established that playing a historical figure necessitates an actor pursue expert mimicry and slavish adherence to documented tics and tendencies above all … Continue reading Greatish Performances #15
#41 — Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959) History doesn’t slow down, and it doesn’t pause to give affected observers time to process what has happened. Sometimes art has to rush to keep up. In the process, it can unearth … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the Fifties — Number Forty-One
