You can find the full list of the top 100 blockbusters since 1972 here, as well as an index for other posts in this series. If your monster has a mirror in it, do not shout. This kind of situation does not call for freaking out. And do nothing that you would not like to see… Read More Top 100 Blockbusters of the Multiplex Era: The Monster in the Mirror
Dir. Milos Forman. Starring F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge There are two kinds of people in the world (here it comes): the people who need validation and people who don’t. It’s not merely that Salieri (Abraham) and Mozart (Hulce) are both the first type in a job where that external validation is all… Read More Amadeus (1984)
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 10-6
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 90-86
Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Scofield, Joan Allen I always get nervous when writers get to redo their own work. George Lucas is the alpha and omega of this model, but fans of Amadeus or The Crucible or Doubt must know that even when excellent playwrights turn into screenwriters, they find themselves touching up scenes or… Read More The Crucible (1996)
Seeing Things Secondhand 