The conventional time to memorialize poor Chris Reeve would be 12 months hence — the 20th anniversary of his death. The Superman star and quadriplegic crusader passed almost exactly 19 years ago — 10.10.04. Three days later I wrote a piece called “Guarded Guy.” Hollywood Elsewhere was only two months old at the time. Here’s … Read more
In a two-day-old interview with ABC’s David Muir, I sensed a whiff of Hillary Clinton’s aversion to asking Elizabeth Warren to be her vp. A “granny ticket” with Warren would melt away a lot of the resentment that the Berniebots feel toward Hillary, and it would really raise the gender flag. It would constitute a … Read more
Taxi Driver costars Jodie Foster, Robert DeNiro at the Cannes Film Festival, a bit less than 35 years ago. De Niro looks distinctly uncomfortable; Foster seems glassy-eyed but more or less accepting. Today’s De Niro is a tad mellower (naturally) but is still the same guarded guy, obviously still thriving and punching even though — … Read more
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are clever filmmakers and inspired comedians, but I can’t help despising where they’re coming from politically in Team America: World Police (Paramount, 10.15), their R-rated puppet flick. I’d love to fall in line with my journo friends and call them the cat’s meow in all respects, but man, I can’t. … Read more
This morning I was re-listening to Andrew Goldman’s 2017 podcast conversation with the late, legendary Bobby Zarem, whom I knew quite well and worked with in the ’80s and ’90s, and whom I always found fascinating and exciting to be with. Just click on the big red box below. “Infinite Thanks to Bobby Zarem“, posted … Read more
After catching Eva Victor‘s Sorry, Baby at a Director’s Fortnight screening on 5.22.25, I enthused about it and then some. The review was titled “Another Pleasant, Highly Admirable Surprise“. At the recent 2026 Golden Globes ceremony Julia Roberts called Victor “my hero” and begged audiences to see it. Again: Apart from an unfortunate, vaguely annoying … Read more
Legendary architect Frank Gehry died exactly a week ago at age 96. His spirit ascended from inside his home in Santa Monica. I don’t know why I didn’t jump on this right away as I’ve always loved Gehry’s creations and was deeply moved and honored to meet him in Toronto 19 years ago — a … Read more
For the last several months I’ve been skeptical about the notion of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another (Warner Bros., 9.26), which I caught yesterday morning inside the AMC 34th Street, being any kind of artistic comeback flick, much less an Oscar contender. In my mind PTA has been vaguely downswirling or certainly treading … Read more
In his just-published Clint Eastwood book, author Shawn Levy dismisses Breezy (’73), a gentle, deftly handled romantic drama about an affair between William Holden’s 50ish real-estate salesman and Kay Lenz’s free-spirited bohemian, with “ew, just ew” (actually pronounced “eeyooh”). I really don’t like that kind of thinking or judging about a nicely honed, well-written film … Read more
My fascination with Clint Eastwood boils down to two…make that three things. One, how he kicked his directing chops up a couple of notches in the early ’90s and became a seriously formidable director. Two, his affinity for jazzy piano playing. And three, an alleged quote of his that I heard 15 or so years … Read more
Apart from an unfortunate, vaguely annoying decision to tell yet another story about a brutish toxic male raping a woman — certainly the reigning or default narrative of present-day feminist cinema — Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby (A24, 6.27) is really, REALLY good. In terms of being lulled and led along into a lesbian way of … Read more