Earlier this month I wrote that “if there’s been one steady-drumbeat message that has thundered across the Twitterverse for several weeks now, it’s that Pete Docter‘s Soul (Disney +, 12.25) is a truly exceptional animated feature…an emotional, spiritual, jazz-embroidered film so rich and resonant and full-hearted that it deserves to be in Best Picture contention.” … Read more
…except in this instance, the mishearing is better than the actual lyric. “Sway” a song recorded by Dean Martin in the ’50s, is heard over the closing credits of Jonathan Glazer‘s Sexy Beast, which I saw for the first time 20 years ago at the Toronto Film Festival and which I happened to re-watch last … Read more
I saw R.J. Cutler‘s Belushi doc last night, right after watching Emerald Fennell‘s Promising Young Woman. After that exacting but frigid experience I was looking for a little warmth and humanity, and Belushi shared what it had of that. It relaxed me to a certain extent. A feeling of security, comfort, bon ami, even joy. … Read more
Yesterday was Leonardo DiCaprio‘s 46th birthday. This gives me an excuse to re-post “Son of Thinner, Intense, Floppy Mane,” which I posted exactly one year and two days ago, or a day before his 45th. Face it — 46 is kind of a nothing birthday. When you tell people “hey, I’m turning 46”, they give … Read more
Except for the Four Fakers aspect, Martin Scorsese‘s Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story was pretty much a purely pleasurable experience for everyone who saw it during the summer of ’19. It’s been on Netflix ever since, of course. And now Criterion has a 4K Bluray version coming on 1.19.21. What’s my richest musical … Read more
I saw Sofia Coppola‘s On the Rocks (A24/Apple, 10.23) about a week ago, and I’ve been waiting for the spirit to seize. But nothing’s happened, and the reason is that it’s fine as far as it goes. I didn’t dislike it and don’t feel the slightest urge to put it down. It’s an occasionally amusing, … Read more
Yesterday I posted about an 85-minute doc, Meeting The Beatles in India. The piece was titled “I’ll Kill You, Lennon, You Bastard.” A comment from Variety‘s Chris Willman mentioned that a portion of the doc briefly dealt with allegations about sexual misbehavior on the part of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and yet Willman passed along observations … Read more
I was thinking about driving down to Brea, La Habra, Fullerton or Garden Grove — four of the ugliest, most culturally barren, most beyond-miserable Los Angeles suburbs you’ll ever have the misfortune to drive through, much less visit — to see Tenet for the second time. But I guess I won’t. At least not this … Read more
Thanks to Larry Karaszewski, Hollywood Elsewhere now owns the coolest (not to mention the most exclusive) ironic Joe Biden bumper sticker in all of Los Angeles, if not the entire nation. HE to Millennials and Zoomers: Released in mid-July of 1970, Joe was a disturbing lightning-rod drama about simmering middle-class annoyance and anger towards hippie … Read more
As a Santa Monica College film student, Tatiana is taking a Coen Bros. appreciation course. She’s in the midst of watching a long list of their films for preparation, and I’ve watched two or three with her. Unfortunately this immersion has reminded me of some aspects of their films that I don’t like all that … Read more
I’ve been on the Vertigo Home Video Upgrade Journey for God knows how many years. I’ve been watching it theatrically since forever. At least eight or ten times since the early ’70s. I remember my first viewing of Robert Harris and Jim Katz’s 1996 70mm restoration on the Universal lot. I remember looking at a … Read more
Starting in late July pro-Trump gatherings have been happening on Saturday afternoons at Beverly Gardens Park (Santa Monica Blvd. between Beverly and Canon). I knew something was up when I saw a cluster of American flags from a block away. Then I got a bit closer and saw the banners and MAGA hats. I looked … Read more