Dir. Ridley Scott. Starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino Spoilers for a recent release. Tempting as it is to begin with the accent work in this movie, I think it’s more revealing to begin with Dariusz Wolski’s photography. House of Gucci is shot in most of the same washed-out tones that one comes to… Read More House of Gucci (2021)
Dir. Eiichi Yamamoto. Starring Aiko Nagayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Katsutaka Ito Dir. Volker Schlondorff. Starring Jeremy Irons, Ornella Muti, Alain Delon Two movies about sex, which go about the subject about as differently as one could imagine. In Belladonna of Sadness, the Devil (Nakadai) appears to Jeanne (Nagayama) as a, well, he’s a penis, and he… Read More Belladonna of Sadness (1973) and Swann in Love (1984)
For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here 70) The Mission (1986), directed by Roland Joffe If a movie features the most beautiful piece of music ever written for a film, does it deserve to make a list like this without question? The Mission is a very good movie on… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 70-66
For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here. 90) The Long Good Friday (1980), directed by John Mackenzie Bob Hoskins has too many teeth in his mouth. Where he found them all I don’t know, but they are perfect for Harold Shand, who attacks his problems… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 90-86
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: 45-41
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)
I’ve completed a series of episode-by-episode reviews of the marvelous television miniseries Brideshead Revisited. I’ve decided to make it easier to access these posts as part of a group by making this page as an index. I’ve also added a short synopsis of each episode so that you can find what you’re looking for quickly.… Read More Brideshead Revisited (1981)
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Laurence Olivier, Diana Quick (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) Daniel Day-Lewis is, by virtually any standard short of the box office, the greatest film actor we’ve ever had. Nine times out of ten I think so. And then, that one time out of ten, I think… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E11, “Brideshead Revisited”
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, Phoebe Nicholls (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) It takes the greater part of the first episode, all of the second, and all but the last thirty seconds of the third to build us up to a state of great joy in Charles and Sebastian’s… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E10, “A Twitch Upon the Thread”
Dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Starring Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, Jane Asher (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) “Oh, yes” Charles says. “He was the forerunner.” The beginning of this episode charts, as every other episode must, really, the ongoing changes and worsening of the Flytes. Yet it seems that everyone is very much the… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E9, “Orphans of the Storm”
Seeing Things Secondhand 