To see my running list of the hundred greatest movie stars in American film history, click here To start this project, I began with about 750 names which I knew I’d need to pare down to 100. On my first pass, I only eliminated about 300 of those names, which is a sign of how… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: The Near Misses
Dir. Penny Marshall. Starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Jared Rushton Over the course of a year, three separate comedies put women at the upper echelons of late ’80s business and simultaneously ensnared them in love triangles. The world of business and work entwine each other until there is no clear separation between the profitable and… Read More Big (1988)
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: 20-16
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: 30-26
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)
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. 5) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), directed by Woody Allen (Straightens tie, looks… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Family Drama, 5-1
Dir. Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Sam Neill, Harvey Keitel Someday, God forbid, Holly Hunter will die and everyone is going to rewatch her movies and wonder why she was not the most revered actress of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Her performances live somewhere between our retinas and our spinal columns, pulsing through… Read More The Piano (1993)
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: 95-91
Dir. James L. Brooks. Starring Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks Within a stretch of about twenty minutes, each of the principals in this movie has a moment where s/he asks someone else to hold on for a minute. Tom and Aaron (Hurt and Brooks) ask Jane (Hunter) to hold on for a second while… Read More Broadcast News (1987)
Dir. David Cronenberg. Starring James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger, Elias Koteas This is a review of an NC-17 film and as such contains discussion of some topics which are better suited to mature readers. There’s a scene a little more than halfway through the movie which defines Crash for me, one which sticks the film’s… Read More Crash (1996)
Seeing Things Secondhand 