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A couple of nights ago I was sitting through (i.e., not exactly watching) The Towering Inferno, and the truth of it hit me. When you break that film down there are three basic elements that make it work -- the lead performances by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman and the score by John Williams. Every other element is weak or annoying in some way. Too many explosions, unlikely complications, You could even call the film tawdry, but Williams score gives it a veneer of class. Williams had to know that The Towering Inferno was pricey pablum, but he pulled himself together, manned up and did the job. He sold it.
May 8, 2023 8:06 pmby Jeff Wells

In HE’s latest podcast, Jeff and Sasha jump into the latest sticky wicket — i.e., Pauline Kael, Laurence Olivier, Richard Dreyfuss, Othello, etc….an issue that has greatly disturbed Variety‘s Clayton Davis.

Recorded on May 7th…74 minutes.

May 8, 2023 7:48 pmby Jeff Wells
I know he's presumed to be Next Big Thing, mostly because of (a) his wimpy, weepy dad performance in Aftersun, (b) his Stanley Kowalski on the British stage earlier this year, (c) his having been tapped to step into Richard Linklater's adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along, and (d) his forthcoming starring role as Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen's Lucilla, in Ridley Scott's Gladiator sequel.
May 8, 2023 12:39 pmby Jeff Wells

World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy is conducting a critics poll of the preferred greatest films of the 1960s.

It not only broke my heart but caused great physical pain to not include The Hustler, Blow-Up, Rosemary’s Baby, Easy Rider, Breathless, Shoot The Piano Player, L’Eclisse, Cool Hand Luke, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Apartment, Repulsion, Psycho, A Hard Day’s Night, The Train, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, Point Blank, etc.

It’s completely infuriating, but when you have to choose ten you have to be brutal, and it hurts so badly.

HE’s top ten of the ’60s: 1. Dr. Strangelove, 2. Midnight Cowboy, 3. The Manchurian Candidate, 4. L’Avventura, 5. Bonnie and Clyde, 6. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 7. This Sporting Life, 8. The Wild Bunch, 9. The Graduate, 10. Lawrence of Arabia.

(More…)
May 8, 2023 12:23 pmby Jeff Wells

What am I really, actually looking forward to at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off a week from tomorrow (5.16)? I’ve put asterisks next to 14 films (below), but when you get right down to it and get past the films you believe that you should see but probably aren’t actually hot to see, the list is shorter.

HE’s serious Cannes hotties (in order of preference): Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon, Steve McQueen‘s Occupied City, Jonathan Glazer‘s The Zone of Interest, Todd Haynes‘ May December, James Mangold‘ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Kore-eda Hirokazu‘s Monster, Jessica Hausner‘s Club Zero, Wes Anderson‘s Asteroid City, Alice Rohrwacher‘s La Chimera. (9)

COMPETITION (9):

* Club Zero, Jessica Hausner
* Asteroid City, Wes Anderson
* The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismaki
Les Filles D’Olfa (Four Daughters), Kaouther Ben Hania
Anatomie D’une Chute, Justine Triet
* Monster, Kore-eda Hirokazu
Il Sol Dell’Avvenire, Nanni Moretti
* La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher
About Dry Grasses, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
* L’Ete Dernier, Catherine Breillat
The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, Tran Anh Hung
Rapito, Marco Bellocchio
* May December, Todd Haynes
Firebrand, Karim Ainouz
* The Old Oak, Ken Loach
* Perfect Days, Wim Wenders
Banel Et Adama, Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Jeunesse, Wang Bing

OUT OF COMPETITION (3):

* Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese
The Idol, Sam Levinson
Cobweb, Kim Jee-woon
* Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, James Mangold
* Jeanne du Barry, Maiwenn

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS:

Omar la Fraise, Elias Belkeddar
Kennedy, Anurag Kashyap
Acide, Just Philippot

SPECIAL SCREENINGS (2):

Retratos Fantasmas (Pictures of Ghosts), Kleber Mendonca Filho
* Anselm, Wim Wenders
* Occupied City, Steve McQueen
Man in Black, Wang Bing

May 8, 2023 11:50 amby Jeff Wells



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