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
Posted on 9.7.21: Written by Mike Rutherford and Christopher Neil, “All I Need Is A Miracle” is about a guy who’s been indifferent and even abusive to his ex-girlfriend, but now he realizes what an asshole he was and desperately wants her back. If she decides to forgive him and return, it’ll be because God … Read more
A high-profile, middle-aged husband (45) and wife (41) whose issues led to a recent separation (followed by a subsequent rapprochement) are further rocked by the wife’s discovery last March of the husband’s brief affair with a 25-year-old climate activist who bears a strong resemblance to the wife and is certainly the same physical type. This … Read more
Pablo Larrain‘s Spencer ends on an “up” note — Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart) and sons William and Harry escaping from the Windsor gargoyles in her car and singing Mike + the Mechanics’ “All I Need Is A Miracle,” which was released in early ’86. But here’s the thing… Written by Mike Rutherford and … Read more
A 6.28 NBC News story reports that Hiddleswift fans (i.e., Taylor Swift fans who have a passing interest in her recently revealed relationship with Tom Hiddleston) can buy break-up insurance from Taobao, China’s biggest online marketplace. Which is a thing, of course, because everyone has decided that Hiddleswift isn’t long for this world. Mainly because … Read more
In a 6.12 interview with Toronto Star critic Peter Howell, Clint Eastwood admits to being “amused that one of his more recent movies, Gran Torino, has spawned a catch praise that’s almost as popular as Dirty Harry’s ‘Go ahead, make my day!’ line from Sudden Impact. The line is ‘Get off my lawn!,’ barked by … Read more
I don’t know anything about longterm relationships, much less keeping the fires going in the midst of one. My marriage lasted four years. My other relationships (including the affair with the married journalist) have all lasted two or three years so what do I know? But I’m asking myself about the premise of Hope Springs, … Read more
In honor of the next Friday’s (7.24) theatrical debut of Michael Mann‘s Manhunter: The Final Cut, I’m posting three mild complaints. 1. Bad climactic payoff: I watched the original 1986 version again last night, and I’m sorry but the big violent finale inside Francis Dollarhyde‘s home doesn’t work for me. Just as Joan Allen‘s Reba … 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
Last night I watched the second half of Billy Joel: And So It Goes, and honestly? I didn’t like it as much as Part One, which is like the first half of Lawrence of Arabia — troubled beginnings, difficult development, Joel’s relationship with wife #1 (Elizabeth Weber), the gradual finding of success in the ’70s … Read more
Is Kamala Harris charismatic and razzle-dazzly enough to serve as the nation’s 47th president? She doesn’t need to be. What matters is that she’s a decent, ethically grounded, steady-as-she-goes and obviously intelligent politician. Harris can memorize and repeat the necessary talking points and can project sincerity and conviction as far as it goes, but she … Read more
“Spirit of Early ’60s Antonioni Meets Rooney Mara’s Belly Button,” posted on 3.11.17: Terrence Malick‘s Song to Song (Broad Green, 3.17) is more or less the same movie as To The Wonder and Knight of Cups — another meandering, whispering voice-over, passively erotic Emmanuel Lubezski tour de bullshit. All directors make the same movie over … Read more