#4 — Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993) In Empire magazine a couple of years ago, Francis Ford Coppola condescendingly asked Steven Spielberg (buffered by the safe distance afforded by an interlocutor) if he was going to ever make a “personal” … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Four
#19 — Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) During the first part of his career, Steven Spielberg made the sort of movies he could have dreamed up as a kid. Like may good artist finding his way, he was making … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Nineteen
In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, 1967). I guessed that this film would seem painfully dated. Instead, Jewison’s police drama about a black Philadelphia homicide detective called upon to help solve a murder case in a small Southern town where rampant bigotry still rules the culture holds up nicely. It’s somewhat an artifact of its time, but a dramatically sound one. Jewison makes his points with care, always grounding the conflicts in believable situations populated by well-drawn characters. What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in clean, gripping storytelling. Rod Steiger won an Oscar for his … Continue reading Jewison, Pollack, Roemer, Sommers, Spielberg
Coffee for Two 