Friday Foster (Arthur Marks, 1975). Based on a comic strip written by Jim Lawrence and drawn by Jorge Longarón that ran in the first half of the nineteen-seventies, Friday Foster features Pam Grier in the title role, a photojournalist who … Continue reading Then Playing — Friday Foster; Tokyo Joe; The Return of Doctor X
The Hard Way (Vincent Sherman, 1943). This drama about a young woman named Katie (Joan Leslie) making her way in the ruthless world of showbiz has some real grit to it, distinguishing a storyline that otherwise hits familiar beats. It … Continue reading Then Playing — The Hard Way; The Lady Gambles; Leave No Trace
Megamind (Tom McGrath, 2010). Just as surely as Pixar has forged its own auteuristic identity as a studio, the same has been achieved by DreamWorks Animation, their main rival for family box office dollars. Where Pixar is built on rigorous storytelling acumen and emotional authenticity, DreamWorks opts for cheap jokes, an overt embrace of fleeting pop culture trends and endlessly frenetic onscreen business. If they can prop it all up with overly familiar pop songs, all the better. The studio is prolific enough that exceptions slip through, almost like accidentally pristine product missed by the lack-of-quality control department of a … Continue reading Boden and Fleck, Joost and Schulman, McGrath, Sherman
Coffee for Two 