Tim: Glad to report we’re back for another conversation. Also glad to report that this one may have less structure in mind than any previous conversation we’ve had. (That we’re typing and putting on a blog. I have no doubt this would not even register in real life.) Howdy, Matt. Matt: I’m wondering how many… Read More Baumann and Burch Conversations #8: Trilogies
Dir. Craig Gillespie. Starring Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney I, Tonya reminds me of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. They begin similarly. Both of them are absolutely terrified that you might not get the point, and so they begin with this awful lectorial pedantry. Three Billboards starts with the billboards, unveiling them interminably (Too… Read More I, Tonya (2017)
Dir. George Cukor. Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Charles Bickford Dir. William Wyler. Starring Olivia de Havilland, Miriam Hopkins, Montgomery Clift A Star Is Born stands as a sort of caduceus, a mere movie entwined by the serpents “joyous star vehicle” and “anthropological document.” On one hand, this is Judy Garland’s last stand. “The Man That… Read More A Star Is Born (1954) and The Heiress (1954)
Since the announcement of “Best Popular Film” was made several hours ago, the general reaction has been something along the lines of “All this does is pander further to some non-existent audience at the expense of condescending to movies that make money.” Let’s take those one half at a time. First, I am generally speaking… Read More Best Popular Film: An Okay Idea Eighty-Nine Years Too Late
Dir. Jeff Nichols. Starring Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Nick Kroll My humble definition of a biopic is “any movie which makes months, and preferably years, of a real human being’s life into its plot.” By my own definition, I would say that Loving qualifies as a biopic of Richard and Mildred Loving (Edgerton and Negga,… Read More Loving (2016)
Dir. Bob Fosse. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner Lenny Bruce (Hoffman) is delivering his stand-up act, pulling from current events and the newspaper as is his wont. He’s intrigued by the discrepancy in pay for Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Las Vegas act ($60,000 salary) and the best-paid teachers in Nevada ($6,000). It’s “sick,” he… Read More Lenny (1974)
Dir. Louis Malle. Starring Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Löwenadler Lucien (Blaise) has five days off from his job mopping floors and emptying bedpans in a local hospital. He hasn’t called his mother (Gilberte Rivet) to tell her that he’s coming home for a while, and when he gets there he is more or less… Read More Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
Dir. Richard Brooks. Starring Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, Burl Ives Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a competent waste of time and energy, occasionally pretty and from time to time infuriating for the right reasons. My inclination is to say that it’s not much of a movie, but I’m willing to admit I’m wrong… Read More Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Dir. Sergei Bondarchuk. Starring Ludmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov Unless I manage to get my hands on Satantango or, God forbid, Out 1 at some point, I think War and Peace will probably rank as the lengthiest movie I watch this year. At 421 minutes, it is one of the giants of narrative cinema,… Read More War and Peace (1967)
Dir. John Ford. Starring Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan Frank Capra returned to Hollywood from military service and made It’s a Wonderful Life, a story about a man who is certain that his life, overflowing with instances of quiet sacrifice, has come to nothing. William Wyler returned to Hollywood from military service and made… Read More My Darling Clementine (1946)
Seeing Things Secondhand 