Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Rob Reiner, 2023). This documentary on the life and career of Albert Brooks includes enough clips of his remarkable work in comedy and filmmaking to ensure a suitable level of entertainment. In nearly every other … Continue reading Then Playing — Albert Brooks: Defending My Life; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.; Blue Jean
There are many building blocks of the internet, but the cornerstones are think pieces, offhand lists, and other hollow provocations meant to stir arguments and, therefore, briefly redirect web traffic. Engaging such material is utterly pointless. Then again, it’s not like I have anything better to do. It almost seems unkind — or maybe foolish — to take umbrage with the vaguely defined list of Stephen King adaptations recently published at New York magazine’s Vulture site. For starters, it’s obvious advertorial nonsense, released in conjunction with Spike’s needy attempt at cashing in on the lucrative market for genre-driven television. There’s also a … Continue reading Bait Taken: 5 of the Best Stephen King Adaptations Ever
Since writing this, nearly twenty-four years ago (good gravy, I think I need to sit down), I’ve decided that Stand By Me is probably more like Rob Reiner’s third best movie. There are a couple of his films that are clearly better, but they don’t have the same tinge of somber importance to them, so I downgraded them at the time. However, I stick with Stand By Me as the best film adaptation of a King work, by a wide margin. Sorry, Shawshank disciples. It’s interesting to think back on this film as the effective introduction of Kathy Bates and … Continue reading From the Archives: Misery
#17 — This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984) Is there a better compliment for a satirical film than the adoring embrace of those who serve as the target of the comedy? From practically the moment of its release, This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s mock documentary about a ragged British heavy metal band and their concert tour marked by mounting indignities, was a favorite of the musicians who could reasonably consider themselves the real-world equivalents of the characters in the film. It may not quite have been required viewing on tour buses, but there were always plenty of people toiling … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Seventeen
#34 — The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987) It is a just a fairy tale, of course. By definition, it’s frivolous and inessential; the sort of thing told to a small child to help them drift off to sleep. When this … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Thirty-Four
The Bucket List (Rob Reiner, 2007). When I write these “catch-up reviews” posts, I present the films strictly in the order I watched them. That’s not the case with Rob Reiner’s latest, however. As I perused my list, I realized that I had neglected to write about this at the point I watched it. I offer this piece of information not because the inside details of my methodology are especially scintillating, but because it ably illustrates that this film is completely forgettable. Jack Nicholson plays his stock character: the careening, carousing, glinting little devil. Morgan Freeman plays his stock character: … Continue reading In Hollywood where all the lights are low and truth’s as rare as the winter snow
Coffee for Two 