handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Kudos to J.J. Abrams for doing something extraordinary: he has made me not care about Star Wars for the first time ever. I’m kind of relieved that it’s over, because it has stopped being fun.
A frustrating movie in some ways, but an important reminder of the power of cinema to manipulate and seduce us, and not always for the better.
Katniss Everdeen. Snow White. Lisbeth Salander. Are we finally starting to see heroine’s journeys?
Could Hollywood only get away with such a split when there is an existing and enthusiastic fanbase? Are these splits anything other than moneygrabbing on the studios’ part, a means to get twice the ticket sales out of fans?
Depression is like an enormous rogue planet entering your solar system and ripping your world apart…
Are we going to see a mad rush by all the studios to convert old — and not so old — movies to 3D and get them back out in multiplexes? Would that be an entirely bad thing? Would it be better if we just got unconverted classics back on a big screen?
Is it Marilyn Monroe’s white dress? Dorothy’s red slippers? Charlie Chaplin’s hat? Something else?
Olivia de Havilland was 19 and Errol Flynn was 26 when they met doing screen tests for Captain Blood, and the chemistry between them — onscreen and off — was pretty much instant. Their tempestuous relationship encapsulates the heyday of the studio system, as this new book beautifully documents…
James Cameron is not through sucking the money right out of your bank account. You’ve already made Avatar the moneymakingest movie ever at the box office (unadjusted for inflation, of course, because no one wants to say that Scarlett O’Hara kicks Na’vi ass). You’ve already made the DVD and blu-ray the biggest selling release ever. … more…
There’s box sets, and then there’s this 70th anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition Gone With the Wind set, which is just insane. In a good way, of course. If you’re looking for an impressive Christmas gift for a lover of this movie, this could be pretty sweet. And if he or she is one of those … more…
