Why have just 100-best lists? The snarkiness is so much more fun when it’s the worst. Crooked Timber is working one up, based on reader suggestions. Reasonable people may differ over what qualify a movie for terribleness, or disqualify it.
The Times ran a good story on the filming of Cormac McCarthy’s novel. Viggo Mortenson stars as the father, and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee is the boy. While the novel takes place on a trek from the mountains of the south down towards to Gulf coast, the producers have used Pennsylvania, …
Caught the new Indy (as in Jones) film the other day while in Ohio. Despite what you might read in the writings of some of the cattier critics it’s good fun. Set 20 years after the first three films, the Nazis are long gone and the Soviets (or, as they …
I counted 267 that I’ve seen, so if I can hang on until age 180 or so I might catch them all. Notable omission: “Help.” See what else you can find. This list’s in chronological order, so there’s no quibbling over whether Godfather II is better than the first.
Speaking of movies, here’s another top-right one. Gene Hackman, John Travolta, Renee Russo, Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farino, James Gandolfini. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, based on the Ellmore Leonard novel. A pleasure from start to finish, a tight story played just right.
If you ever find yourself nostalgic for the ’60s, this is your cure. How bad can it be if it’s not Pootie Tang? Picture if you will this graph: “The Godfather goes in the top right corner — great talent all around, terrific movie. The bottom left is inhabited by …
The real star? The dialog. David Mamet’s Touretteslike stream of obscenity-laced iambic pentameter has a mesmerizing rhythm, taking on a life of its own. I can only imagine how cool this must have been on stage, with a cast that had been doing it every night for a year.
When you watch an interview with David Lynch it’s always surprising how totally normal he seems. Once you get past the hipster hair style he’s got this unpretentious gee-whiz enthusiasm about things. Did you know he’s a vegan, or at least a vegetarian? He shows us how to make quinoa …
In another context someone wrote, ‘better? There is no “better’”. That applies to the film classic Gaslight, running on TCM this weekend. A movie who’s title has become a verb, the plot in short is: a young English voice student on the mainland meets an imposing and romantic older man. …
Good. Very good. Probably not great, but worth a watch. It’s been compared with “The Verdict,” the1982 Paul Newman courtroom drama, with good reason. George Clooney has become a Newman kind of actor, a guy comfortable in his skin who takes roles in which he doesn’t seem to be acting …
Take a little spaghetti western along with bits and pieces of “High Noon” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (actually a huge amount of “Josey Wales”), toss in some of the big stars of the day and a story by Elmore Leonard and you get “3:10 To Yuma,” the latest installment …
Last month marked twenty-five years since the release of the original “Blade Runner,” and in recognition “The Final Cut” was released theatrically and on DVD. I picked up my copy last week, and compared it with my memories of the original. Now I’ve always had a weakness for sci-fi in …
Going to a movie is one thing. Reading a book is another. For many years I’ve been an avid reader of Cormac McCarthy. I’ve made it a point, in fact, to read everything by him at least twice. McCarthy’s style is heavy on landscape and theme, with plot somewhat de-emphasized. …
How many movies have you ever seen with so many plot twists, and such a surprising ending, that made you say, “I’ve got to watch that again?” A few I’m sure .. I know I have.
