I’ve been doing this bit about “Better than” for just about every series I do, but I can tell you before we get to anything else that this will be better than AFI’s version of this project. That’s because my version will actually have one hundred movie stars. In 1999, the AFI skimped on the… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars Introduction
The first dead guy in this series! I’ll tell you what, it is shockingly difficult to find full lists ranking Stanley Kubrick’s filmography on the Internet, and without being more flippant, I really do think it’s because he’s been dead for years now. Many of my more reliable sites for this kind of business, like… Read More Stanley Kubrick Meta-Analysis
Dir. Norman Jewison. Starring Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden Spoilers follow…I almost never do spoiler warnings, and I can’t remember if I’ve ever done one for a film from the 20th Century. Yet this film ends so dramatically and boldly that the shock, one way or another, feels especially meaningful. It’s not a… Read More The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Dir. Brian De Palma. Starring Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, Saul Rubinek The Bonfire of the Vanities has an issue with its narration. I mean, you could make a long list of things that this movie has issues with, but the narration is what takes this picture from messy to stinky. You can smell the weakness… Read More The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Dir. Cate Shortland. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour Spoilers great and small abound for a recent MCU entry, but honestly there aren’t even that many in here past what you’d find in your average review on a fan website. Black Widow is one of those MCU movies which doesn’t ask you to come… Read More Black Widow (2021)
Dir. John Ford. Starring Tyrone Power, Maureen O’Hara, Betsy Palmer Some soldiers, just through luck or probability or God’s will, are doomed to be the ones to watch others die. Marty Maher (Power), though he enlists annually for decades on end and is in the service for both world wars, never actually goes to battle.… Read More The Long Gray Line (1955)
To see what interests me about the Andy Hardy movies (with apologies to the rest of his family) and to get some broader thoughts on them, you can follow this link. You can also find this list with so many fewer words at my Letterboxd. It goes without saying that there are moderate to serious… Read More The Andy Hardy Movies: Ranking
I have a book I’ve been terribly fond of called Our Times: An Illustrated History of the 20th Century. A little disappointingly, it only goes up to the mid-1990s, but otherwise I can’t fault the book, which has been my introduction over the past fifteen years and more to scores of culturally relevant moments, texts,… Read More The Andy Hardy Movies: Introduction
Dir. Andrew V. McLaglen. Starring Jimmy Stewart, Phillip Alford, Rosemary Forsyth One of my five favorite movies of all time is Gettysburg, a childhood favorite which I describe in that linked piece as having a “softness” concerning slavery but worlds of sympathy about the introspection of Confederate generals out to keep other men in chains.… Read More Shenandoah (1965)
When Soggy Bottom is released sometime later this year, it will be Paul Thomas Anderson’s ninth film in twenty-five years. Anderson, like another smart set favorite in Quentin Tarantino, is feted for a small filmic oeuvre indeed. If you want to replace Tarantino with David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, or even older directors like… Read More Paul Thomas Anderson Meta-Analysis
Seeing Things Secondhand 