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?
Dir. George Roy Hill. Starring Robin Williams, Glenn Close, Mary Beth Hurt “The Pension Grillparzer” is the story in The World According to Garp, the novel, which changes Garp’s life. It’s presented clearly as the best of his work, the purest expression of him as a writer. It’s why Helen Holm marries him. It’s not… Read More The World According to Garp (1982)
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. 90) Kate Winslet / Key film – Titanic A somewhat difficult actress to… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 86-90
1) The first thing I did, before I even began making predictions or thinking about how things might go, is check to see if any of these movies out for Best Picture had 11/2 odds. I speak, of course, of the 15% rule that The Ringer’s Kevin Clark frequently refers back to, which proclaims that any… Read More 91st Academy Awards: Quickly Scribbled Thoughts
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: 70-66
Dir. Stephen Frears. Starring John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer Valmont (Malkovich) emotionally withdraws from as many situations as he can, not because “emotion is weakness” or some other flaccid cliche, but because it’s silly to be emotionally involved in a situation where only one of you is in real life. Valmont is in a stage… Read More Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Dir. Barbet Schroeder. Starring Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, Glenn Close I think if screened Reversal of Fortune for ten other people and then asked them what they thought the film was about, I would get at least seven or eight different answers. Is it about Claus von Bulow (Irons), far and away the most interesting person… Read More Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Seeing Things Secondhand 