I knew this right away because Nicolas Cage‘s appearance in this thing screams “artificially fat”. Obviously. I knew that instantly. AI sez: “Nicolas Cage did not actually gain weight to play John Madden. Despite viral internet rumors claiming he put on over 50 pounds, he wore a full-body fat suit and extensive prosthetic makeup for … Read more
For nearly 20 years I’ve been grappling with a Ryan Gosling problem….some kind of chemical vibe that clashes on some level with the HE sensibility. Okay, not a problem. Call it a hurdle. For me, four Gosling performances are delicious — the stoic no-name dude in Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Drive (’10…my second favorite), Jared Vennett … Read more
HE hereby apologizes to Andrew Kavanaugh and his YouTube channel, Cavanaugh’s Corner, for failing to link to Cavanaugh’s takedown essay about Criterion’s 4K Bluray of John Boorman‘s Point Blank (’67), which popped last April. Unlike most of the online whores and slobbering suck-ups who gave this Criterion disc a pass, Cavanaugh just burts out the … Read more
Arrow Video’s newly remastered Bluray of John Flynn‘s The Outfit (’73) pops on 7.27.26. I have the handsome, no-problemo Warner Archive DVD, but maybe. I’ve been writing about The Outfit for at least 20 years — nothing left to say that’s fresh. Quentin Tarantino‘s Outfit commentary begins at the 10-minute mark:
Werwulf (Focus Features, 12.25) is yet another gloomy Robert Eggers art-horror flick. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp…same old gloopy vibe. Seven years ago Eggers was a gold-standard auteur…those were the days. my friend…we thought they’d never end. Yes, mouth-breathing fans of atmospheric dread and gore will show up in droves for Werwulf, but for … Read more
Last March Steven Spielberg told a SXSW fanboy audience (is there any other kind?) that he was developing a “kick ass”, cliche-free western, etc. Except there’s truly nowhere fresh to go with an oater these days. Okay, there’s one idea that Billy Bob Thornton shared at a party a few years ago: The first-ever Old … Read more
In the early ‘80s I worked as a part-time projectionist at South Norwalk’s Sono theatre. I was licensed and everything. I knew from editing and tape-splicing, aperture plates, “eight at the gate”…all that good stuff. I always tried to keep a film in perfect focus, of course, but if a focus adjustment was requested it … Read more
This recent below photo aside, Donald Trump, Jr. is apparently an inch taller than Bettina Anderson, whom he recently married (and vice versa) at a ceremony in the Bahamas. But what if the sizes were reversed? Taller women-shorter men relationships occasionally happen, of course, even though we’ve all read or heard about hetero women routinely … Read more
Maybe if it was filmed in gorgeous Technicolor I might have somehow stuck with it? I love the subtle colors of Rome, especially around dusk. I only know that I’ve always found the concept of Audrey Hepburn’s princess living a restricted, regimented, hemmed-in life hard to swallow. Lame fairy-tale stuff. April is bustin’ out all … Read more
HE’s 2026 Cannes Film Festival crash pad (shared) is significantly larger than last year’s hellishly small studio (i.e., the one that lost electric power…black as night, black as coal… when I delicately tried to retrieve a piece of pita bread from a toaster). Living room + bedroom, etc. It’s also more expensive, of course. In … Read more
Variety‘s Esa Keslassy to Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux: “What is the status of the Cannes Film Festival’s selection today?” Fremaux: “It’s March, and we’re still waiting for many films. We’re seeing some great things. The excitement comes from the artists themselves. The announcement that Peter Jackson or Barbra Streisand are coming, for example, already makes … Read more