T2 Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 2017). From the moment it was announced, director Danny Boyle’s choice to develop a sequel to his breakthrough film, Trainspotting, struck me as highly suspect, a seemingly desperate creative retreat for a filmmaker whose recent projects — … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — T2 Trainspotting; Game Night; RBG
As Ryan Gosling blasts into theaters as Neil Armstrong, I’ll take advantage of this space to look back to when he was still venturing on occasion into a different kind of character role. I think this might still represent his … Continue reading From the Archive — Lars and the Real Girl
I haven’t dug into any interviews with Tamara Jenkins to learn the insider story of why over a decade passed between her last film and her latest, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find the reason serves as … Continue reading Now Playing — Private Life
It is now almost quaint to think of A Star is Born as a signature example of Hollywood’s tendency to repeat itself, and yet that’s exactly the status bestowed upon the showbiz tale by the time Barbra Streisand and Kris … Continue reading Now Playing — A Star is Born
I’m always pleased when I discover something in one of these old reviews that carbon dates it to the era in which is was written. I think the reference to Blockbuster in the lengthy opening paragraph accomplishes that feat nicely. … Continue reading From the Archive — The Savages
#39 — Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine Clifton in The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996) For those who care about film as a medium — who want to consume as much as possible and then openly grapple with what they’ve … Continue reading Greatish Performances #39
A Simple Favor is precisely the film Paul Feig needed at this point in his directorial career. The filmmaker will always have an honored place in my personal pantheon thanks to his efforts on the practically perfect television series Freaks … Continue reading Now Playing — A Simple Favor
Crime of Passion (Gerd Oswald, 1957). This sordid little number casts Barbara Stanwyck as Kathy Ferguson, a San Francisco advice columnist who abandons her career after falling love with and marrying a Los Angeles police lieutenant (Sterling Hayden). It turns … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Crime of Passion; They Live By Night; The V.I.P.s
On the occasion of Nicole Holofcener’s latest film making its debut in theaters and on Netflix this weekend, I’ll reach back to the review I wrote of her third feature. Friends with Money is arguably the writer-director’s weakest film, and … Continue reading From the Archive — Friends with Money
Younger generations could be forgiven if they were filled with fury over the planet that has been knocked into disrepair for them. I truly believe that history will incredulously record that the greater political society knew of all the ways … Continue reading Now Playing — Inventing Tomorrow
Coffee for Two 