myTest

  • Well Put

    “The acting in Hamnet feels stagey until the movie reaches an actual stage, at which point the earthen, feral, ardent work that Jessie Buckley has been doing reaches its apogee. Agnes witnesses, at last, what her absent husband has been up to in the wake of their family’s tragedy. And the way Buckley registers what’s…

  • Faster, Faster

    There’s an obvious affinity between Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Burks and George Tomasini‘s handling of the mountain road chase in To Catch A Thief (’55) and the Florida coast beach-speeding scene in Hitch’s Notorious, which was shot by Ted Tetzlaff and edited by Theron Warth. Cary Grant riding shotgun both times; the laid-back Grace Kelly and…

  • George Harrison’s “So Sad”

    I saw Ella McCay a few hours ago. I was the only one there so I had my phone on the whole time, although I watched the film fairly closely and carefully. For a guy with his phone on. It was agony to sit through, of course, but I wasn’t feeling sorry for myself. I…

  • #MeToo

  • 2026 Maybes, Uh-Ohs, Unknowns, Can’t-Trust-Ems

    In addition to last night’s posting of HE’s 20 most anticipated films of 2026, here’s a rundown of 24 more…four that seem extra-interesting (Ben Affleck‘s Animals, Danny Boyle‘s Ink, David O. Russell‘s Madden, Laszlo Nemes‘ Moulin) plus 20 randomly chosen films that feel like vague problems or slight disappointments but what do I actually know?…

  • 20 Likeliest 2026 Keepers

    The common consensus is that 2025 has been a fairly weak year. It seems safe to say, however, that 2026 will be a much stronger one, at least by intuitive HE gut criteria. At least 20 qualitative humdingers, by my count, and an impressive roster of grade-A directors (Inarritu, Fincher, Guadagnino, Spielberg, Nolan, Mungiu, Farhadi,…

  • Way Back In 2011…

    Herewith is a no-big-deal marking of the 14th anniversary of a classic HE Larry David food–court story. Barack Obama’s first term was nearly 75% served. It was fairly late on a Sunday afternoon, and for some curious reason I chose this moment to stand upon — defend — a fundamental principle. How quaint that I…

  • Imagine That You’re General Dwight D. Eisenhower

    And the task of somehow marshalling, organizing and leading a successful “Stop One Battle After Another” campaign — the Oscar-season equivalent of a June 1944 D-Day invasion — has become your responsibility. A tall order, a steep uphill slog, and — be honest — almost sure to fail. But if you don’t man up and…

  • Deck Shuffle

  • The Destruction of “Ella McCay”…Bombs Away!

    Pile-on pans of James L Brooks’ Ella McCay will emerge today (Wednesday. 12.10). The besieged period piece (set in 2008) will be commercially viewable on Thursday, 12.11. With the alleged exception of Albert Brooks, everyone involved will take it in the neck. No compassion for Jamie Lee Curtis.

  • Re-Watched “Kelly” Doesn’t Fare As Well

    I’m still down with the final 25 or 30 minutes of Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly (Netflix, now streaming) but several first- and second-act scenes didn’t land like they did in Venice (for me at least), and certain portions felt arch, forced, artificial. I don’t know why it felt less effective this time, but it did.

  • Variety to “Actors on Actors” Guests: Could You Please Stop Pledging Undying Love To Each Other?

    We all understand that you guys respect and admire each other and that certain performances you’ve both given are regarded as serious bell-ringers. But these “Actors on Actors” sessions all feel and sound the same, and it would be wonderful if you could somehow…it’s hard to say this in just the right way, but if…