Dir. Philip Kaufman. Starring Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn The Right Stuff, when it’s functioning at its highest levels, is a story about the death of the Western, and no one could have been better equipped to play the leading role than Sam Shepard. History will remember Shepard the playwright, but to me he will… Read More The Right Stuff (1983)
Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta Matt and I accidentally/jointly named Pulp Fiction the greatest movie in American history when we did our podcast on the matter a little while back. It’s certainly the greatest movie released in my lifetime (not literally, but essentially, since 1991). And as we recede further and… Read More Pulp Fiction (1994)
Dir. Ronald F. Maxwell. Starring Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen I can’t think of another movie made in the past quarter-century which should have seen big screens less than Gettysburg. This isn’t a statement of the film’s quality, but of its marketability, because let’s face it, this is a unicorn of a film. Longer… Read More Gettysburg (1993)
Created by Dan Harmon. Starring Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi 24) S2E1, “Anthropology 101.” Primary characters: Jeff and Britta/Secondary characters: Annie and Shirley The first season of Community is absolutely rock-solid, with a few shining episodes here and there (“Beginner Pottery,” one of the standout examples of “half the study group takes this class… Read More Community, Season 2
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Claire Bloom (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) “A Blow Upon a Bruise” is maybe the most apt name for an episode of television ever aired, because it’s exactly how it feels to watch this painful hour; I’ve watched this miniseries all the way through… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E5, “A Blow Upon a Bruise”
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Claire Bloom (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) No new characters of any importance, no new threads to manage, no real change since last we met with our Brideshead friends. “Sebastian Against the World” is an episode built to bring serious issues to a head,… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E4, “Sebastian Against the World”
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Charles Keating (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) I saw him already as being threatened, though I did not know how black was the threat. His constant despairing prayer was to be left alone, and since he counted among the intruders his own conscience, of… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E3, “The Bleak Light of Day”
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) There’s no doubt that of the eleven Brideshead episodes, this is the worst one with a bullet, and yet without it the first half of the miniseries would collapse. Over the course of this episode, Sebastian’s family and their… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E2, “Home and Abroad”
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, John Gielgud Brideshead Revisited meanders a little while before getting started. Its first episode is an hour and forty minute jaunt which begins with Charles Ryder (Irons), officer in the British Army, alone and pensive. I’ve always felt loneliest when people have to tell me that I am, in… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E1, “Et in Arcadia Ego”
Dir. Rob Reiner. Starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher The difference between When Harry Met Sally (…, and you’re nuts if you think I’m going to type that every time) and every other romantic comedy is that When Harry Met Sally has the most boring plot. Bringing Up Baby throws Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn together via Baby, the… Read More When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Seeing Things Secondhand 