Dir. Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin. In 1949, Death of a Salesman premiered on Broadway, which on its most basic level is about a salesman who is too old and tired to go on the road any longer. The beginning of the play hints at Willy Loman’s exhaustion through that benighted car: Willy: I got… Read More Salesman (1969)
Dir. Michael Curtiz. Starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston Perhaps some foolish moron will endeavor to create a little canon of “the most Hollywood movies” of all time. (I hear some of you saying that the AFI lists are such a canon already, and that said moron need not exert much effort on his… Read More Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Dir. Bob Fosse. Starring Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Chita Rivera Usually it is a death sentence for a movie if its best scenes don’t really include its major character or have anything to do with its plot. Sweet Charity doesn’t deserve the chair, though; if it were a person it would have been released already for time… Read More Sweet Charity (1969)
Dir. Susan Johnson. Starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Anna Cathcart Image links back here In all the articles weeping and wailing about how romantic comedies are dead, there are frequent culprits like “the demise of the mid-budget movie” or “the target demographics like superheroes” or even just “Katherine Heigl” are always at the forefront. But… Read More To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Dir. William Wyler. Starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins One walks away from Friendly Persuasion wishing that the film had been more serious about its characters’ beliefs. It has the seeds of a good movie in it, even an unusual one. Friendly Persuasion is episodic and tranquil in a way that mainstream American movies rarely are anymore. Would… Read More Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Dir. Richard Brooks. Starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Shirley Jones When I was at the student newspaper at my university, one of the team’s favorite little perks of the job was getting letters from an especially nutty fellow. Doubtless he sent out these rants to every newspaper, professional or otherwise, in the state, but we… Read More Elmer Gantry (1960)
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. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Gunnel Lindblom, Ingrid Thulin, Jorgen Lindstrom What’s particularly interesting about Bergman’s so-called “Trilogy of Faith,” which concludes with this picture and is preceded by Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light, is that each one throws us into unfamiliar territory without giving us very much in advance. In the first, we… Read More The Silence (1963)
Dir. Brad Bird. Starring Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Catherine Keener I never write about movies on their opening weekend, but because I am here…spoilers. Many spoilers. In the abstract, an Incredibles 2 seems as heinous as a Toy Story 4. Both The Incredibles and Toy Story 3 end, in my opinion, quite completely and… Read More The Incredibles 2 (2018)
Dir. John Badham. Starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Donna Pescow The cry comes out. “Give the kid some room! He’s taking over again!” Tony Manero (Travolta), to the tune of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” has broken off from his erstwhile partner and decided to go it alone. What Tony does on… Read More Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Seeing Things Secondhand 