The actor: Meryl Streep The character: Miranda Priestly The film: The Devil Wears Prada The quote: “That’s all.” I’m on record in multiple places now (I mean, on the blog and on my podcast, it’s not like they’re real places) saying that if Meryl Streep were really America’s great actress, there would be more great… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #52
To see the intro to this project, as well as links to other decades, click here. 68) “Cups,” from Pitch Perfect (2012) When this movie was released, we were still four years away from TikTok. It’s a rare case where the movies feel like they’re running ahead of the zeitgeist rather than trailing behind it… Read More Listen to America: The 2010s and 2020s
Dir. Adam McKay. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep There are spoilers here for a recent release, though Don’t Look Up definitely strikes me as the kind of movie that’s hard to actually “spoil.” The funniest thing in Don’t Look Up is the running gag about the general at the White House who charges… Read More Don’t Look Up (2021)
To see my running list of the hundred greatest movie stars in American film history, click here We’ve reached the top 10! At this point, every star gets their own post. 5) Meryl Streep What’s lost in the Meryl Streep hagiography—the twenty-one nominations and three Oscar wins over thirty-nine years, the “greatest actor of her generation”… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 5
Directed by Ol Parker. Starring Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan Eventually we get to “Dancing Queen.” This is the part where I would make a joke about “contractual obligations” or something, but for all I know there are contractual obligations which mandate that “Dancing Queen” is played at least once in any ABBA movie.… Read More Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
To see the entire list of my 100 top movies of last decade, or to find the landing page for the other years in this series, click here. I feel a bit on an island rating 2019 as low as I do in this decade. Only two years debut on my list later than… Read More Top 100 Movies of the Decade (2010-2019) — 2019
Dir. Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet How many people do you think have said “No spoilers!” and “They’ve made this book into a movie seven times” in the same week? I hesitate to say that “everyone knows” what will happen in Little Women, but like, if you’re going to see Little Women you… Read More Little Women (2019)
Dir. Steven Spielberg. Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bob Odenkirk The camera moves a whole lot. It’s Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski; one expects that it’s going to move elegantly. For the most part that’s even the case in this movie, I would say, typically able to move us around a newsroom or the offices… Read More The Post (2017)
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
Dir. David Frankel. Starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt “I wouldn’t care if you were pole dancing all night as long as you did it with a little integrity,” Nate (Adrian Grenier) tells Andy (Hathaway) one evening. It’s an interesting line—one that immediately follows a quip about how the guy who makes “port wine… Read More The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Seeing Things Secondhand 