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: Keanu Reeves The character: John Wick The film: John Wick The line: “But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.” One of the things I’ve learned from screwing around Film Twitter as long as I have is that people will try to reclaim any action movie with a pulse. With that said, here’s what… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #36
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. 65) Cate Blanchett / Key film – I’m Not There Cate Blanchett has… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 61-65
Dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss The ’90s remain a key reference point for action films in this country, and to say “’90s action movie” is to call up larger than life scenarios and apocalyptic visions. There are significantly more ludicrous ’90s action movies than Point Break, say, but… Read More The Matrix (1999)
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. Vincente Minnelli. Starring Louis Jourdan, Leslie Caron, Hermione Gingold Dir. Gus Van Sant. Starring River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, William Richert “Thank heaven for little girls,” Honoré (Maurice Chevalier) sings, and it’s as apt an opening for the film as there could be; there can be no question of why they are thanking heaven. The men… Read More Gigi (1958) and My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Seeing Things Secondhand 