retro trailer: ‘The Muppet Movie’

Take a look back at an old trailer… This is a looong trailer — I’m not sure where it came from. Don Deluise, Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Milton Berle, Charles Durning, Mel Brooks… and of course, Kermit and Miss Piggy. It’s a who’s who of 1970s comedy This might be the first movie … more…

trailer break: ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’

Take a break from work: watch a movie trailer… Oh, great. Every stupid cliché about England, with a few bonuses thrown in, like the little dog piddling on the luggage and the horny landlady. Poor Imelda Staunton. If it’s so gross that Burt Reynolds — age 72 — is kissing that hot young blond chick … more…

Home for the Holidays (review)

Beautifully written by W.D. Richter and directed with a sure hand by Jodie Foster, Home for the Holidays wraps all those contradictory feelings up and serves them for Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps the most realistic holiday movie I’ve ever seen, this oddly charming, poignant, and blackly funny film is a treasure not to be missed.

The Sting (review)

The Sting is pretty universally acknowledged as one of the best films ever made. From the flawless performances all round to the clever script, this is movie magic that approaches a kind of wizardry. Not a note is out of place — every line, every scene builds on what’s come before until it ends so breathlessly and abruptly that it leaves you astounded at its audacity. Lonnegan’s not the only one who gets conned; writer David S. Ward and director George Roy Hill sting the viewer, too. This is just about as perfect as movies come.