Greta (Neil Jordan, 2019). Neil Jordan’s first feature film in six years is a trashy, inane thriller that’s miles removed from his best work. Except for the requisite appearance by Stephen Rea, it doesn’t even bear much resemblance to the … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Greta; A Warm December; Veronika Voss
I pitched it with loads of words this week at Spectrum Culture. First off, I contributed a review of the new Smith Westerns album, an effort I’ve been sitting on for a while because of a shifting release date. I wish the extra time had helped me like the album more, but it wound up being one of those reviews where I really wanted to write, “Pretty dull, huh?” and move on. Too bad, as I liked their previous album quite a bit. Things were a little better for me on the film side, which is my main home on … Continue reading Spectrum Check
#9 — The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992) How long does a gag order on movie secrets last? Years before the term “spoiler alert” was coined and became part of the shared vernacular of moviegoing, Miramax was able to parlay the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Nine
His Kind of Woman (John Farrow, 1951). How many other actors completely own a genre of film the way that Robert Mitchum does film noir? It’s like he was born into a delivery room filled with murky shadows and cigarette smoke, the doctor instructing the nurse to slap his bottom by growling, “Give him what’s comin’ to him, and make him sing when you do it.” He moves through this story of scheming and duplicity at a Mexican resort as if he’s walking through his own front door, tossing of aloof wisecracks with the ease of a guy who’s already … Continue reading Edel, Farrow, Hitchcock, Jordan, Siegel
Coffee for Two 