At the 96th Academy Awards, Diane Warren failed to win Best Original Song for the fifteenth time in fifteen tries. Shockingly, “The Fire Inside,” written for the movie about the guy who did not in fact come up with the idea for hot Cheetos, did not win. On the other hand, I’m willing to wager… Read More The Warren Index: Will They Win a Competitive Oscar Before Diane Warren?
The actor: Amy Adams The character: Peggy Dodd The film: The Master The line: “This is something you do for a billion years or not at all.” It’s interesting how much more potent “a billion years” is than “forever.” In practical terms, it’s basically the same thing. I’ll put it this way. If I had… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #5
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 60) “Man of Constant Sorrow,” from O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) I don’t think any movie has ever used the word “damn” to humorous effect quite like O Brother. “Damn we’re in a tight spot!” is one of… Read More Listen to America: The 2000s
To see my running list of the hundred greatest movie stars in American film history, click here All stars are listed with a single film which is particularly important, though not exclusively so, to understanding what makes them vital to American movies. 100) Vivien Leigh / Key film – Gone with the Wind The chauvinists… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 96-100
You can read up on the basis for this series here, and also find links to other posts in the series. Movies I’ve reviewed on this site have a link in the title which you can follow to read my full review. 10) Hacksaw Ridge (2016), directed by Mel Gibson – featuring Andrew Garfield… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Biopics, 10-6
Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams In that long lull in the beginning of Gettysburg’s fourth act, there’s a throwaway scene with Hancock and Chamberlain which serves to show that Hancock is thinking about Armistead almost as much as Armistead thinks about him. Hancock asks the learned Chamberlain, a professor… Read More The Master (2012)
Dir. Alain Resnais. Starring Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Bernard Fresson Dir. Spike Jonze. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams In a sea of other people, a French actress (Riva) and a Japanese architect (Okada) fall painfully and deeply in love. That sea of other people is less the present population of Hiroshima and more… Read More Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Her (2013)
Dir. Tom Ford. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson Nocturnal Animals checks off boxes for me, in the sense that it does things which typically annoy me in a movie. It can’t decide which part of its plot it’s most interested in and sacrifices both pieces for it. At a little less than two… Read More Nocturnal Animals (2016)
You can read up on the basis for this series here, and also find links to other posts in the series. Movies I’ve reviewed on this site have a link in the title which you can follow to read my full review. 10) Arrival (2016), directed by Denis Villeneuve “What if communicating with aliens… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Speculative, 10-6
Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker Amy Adams’ star image is like a braid. One strand is defined by Enchanted, but also includes Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Junebug, Catch Me if You Can, Julie and Julia, and The Muppets. Adams is, for my money, the most beautiful redheaded actress… Read More Arrival (2016)
Seeing Things Secondhand 