Last night I watched the first installment of David Kelley‘s Love and Death, an HBO Max three-parter about the 1980 Candy Montgomery Texas murder saga. I had recently watched Candy, the Hulu five-parter starring Jessica Biel, that premiered in early May of ’22. At this stage I’m totally Candy Montgomery’ed out. I tried to roll … Read more
In a thread about “Dude Needs To Be Cancelled” (posted at 1:37 pm eastern), the excitable Vic Lizzy posted the following with a straight face: “Who’s saying it’s not okay to be white? There’s no significant groundswell of that sentiment. Calling out racism is not the same as being anti-white.” An hour later Bobby Peru … Read more
Posted 2 and 1/2 years ago, way back in July 2020….time flies when you’re absolutely loving your life. Back then there were assholes commenters (like the late “Seasonal Affleck Disorder“) who kept writing “what will it take to get Jeff to stop posting about this crap…everything’s fine…just write about loving movies!” “Political Correctness Is The … Read more
Paul Schrader: “This year’s Sight & Sound poll reflects not a historical continuum, but a politically correct rejiggering.” From HE’s”Sight & Sound Highbrows Lean Wokey,” posted on 12.1.22:
I’m presuming that the IMAX presentations of Jaws and E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial will be showing up-rezzed, large-format versions. If I were in charge I would convert both into actual IMAX film and perhaps even boost the clarity with a 60 fps enhancement. But you also have to ask “why?” Jaws, shot in widescreen 2.39:1, isn’t … Read more
I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if Lukas Dhont‘s Close, which I saw last night, doesn’t win the Palme d’Or. Okay, it might not win because Cannes juries have been known to blow off great or near-great films, but if it doesn’t there’s no way on God’s green earth that the film’s teenage star, Eden Dambrine … Read more
…for being male, cisgender, gender-conforming, heterosexual, a fertile parent, tall and reasonably attractive, able-bodied, healthy, not fat, a product of an upper-middle-class upbringing, urban, qualified in writing, editing and column-writing, literate, English-speaking, a former Episcopalian, descended from Anglo-Europeans and therefore white. I realize that these traits usher in all kinds of presumptions about me being … Read more
In Pablo Larrain‘s Spencer (Neon, 11.5), Kristen Stewart‘s performance as Diana, Princess of Wales, has won raves from nearly everyone, and will most likely result in a Best Actress nomination. Likewise, some believe that Steven Knight‘s screenplay might also lasso a trophy or two. And yet Spencer contains a line that I absolutely abhor. In … Read more
…putting 60% to 70% of Hollywood Elsewhere behind a Patreon paywall, that is, you’re greatly mistaken. I would like nothing better than for Hollywood Elsewhere to just cruise along like it has for the last…God, it’ll be 17 years on 8.4.21. (And nearly 23 years if you count the October ’98 launch of my Mr. … Read more
Posted on 1.22.20: I didn’t listen to Bill Maher’s 1.17 visit to the Joe Rogan Experience (#1413) until last night. Watch or listen away, but it doesn’t get really good until 52:56 when Rogan says we’re all living “in such a strange time.” Here’s an mp3 that I captured, and here’s a partial transcript. Maher: … Read more
There’s a movement afoot to launch a contra-Gold Derby Oscar Prediction chart, called Straight Shooters. The idea is to spitball the Oscars without the wokester filter — to resist the political stuff (or at least not to bow down in a kneejerk fashion), and to adopt a grounded and sensible ars gratia artis perspective. Which … Read more
Earlier today a friend observed that the 2020/’21 Oscars are going to be a virtue-signaling “shit show.” Representational politics, woke priorities, aspirational attitudes…pretty much everything that your average popcorn-eating movie lover doesn’t necessarily look for as he/she buys a ticket or pops for a rental. At least a few of the 2021 Best Picture contenders … Read more