my picks for tonight’s 97th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2024’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 12 out of the 23 categories, which is exactly as well as I did last year. (Five of my “should win”s did win!) At least I’m consistent.
James Mangold
Le Mans ’66 (aka Ford v Ferrari) movie review: when “circle back” meant something else in corporatespeak
A winning (if overearnest) depiction of manly friendship, with some pretty thrilling (if only technically so) racing stuff. But it doesn’t see its potential to be actually culturally significant.
my picks for tonight’s 90th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2017’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 15 out of the 24 categories, which is one of my better showings ever, I think.
Logan movie review: wounded Wolverine, dangerous beast
The X-Men series — the entire superhero genre — has never seen a film like Logan before: raw, rageful, tormented, human. Best of the series yet.
The Wolverine review: prickly on the outside, cuddly on the inside
There’s plenty of good summer popcorn fun, with fresh and exciting action setpieces, but this is mostly an intimate story about Logan, as a mutant and as a man.
question of the day: Is two versions of a movie — one for kids and one for adults (like Hugh Jackman wants for ‘Wolverine’) — a good idea?
Would that make it too confusing to know which is the “real” version? Or would it be barely different from the “director’s cut” versions we often get on DVD?
new this week in U.S., Canadian, and U.K. theaters: ‘Knight and Day,’ ‘Grown Up,’ ‘Get Him to the Greek,’ ‘When in Rome,’ more
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE Knight and Day: Tom Cruise does some spy stuff and runs around a lot, while Cameron Diaz does a lot of screaming and runs around like a girl. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • The 39 Steps (1935): Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll are mismatched maybe-spies in … more…
Knight and Day (review)
*Knight and Day* may have generic characters doing generic things in generic situations, but it’s got Movie Stars with huge white smiles looking pretty and being blandly inoffensive in exotic foreign locales. What’s that? You need more than that? Why do you hate Hollywood?
3:10 to Yuma (review)
This is inventive and exciting, a grip-the-armrests, hold-your-breath reinvigorating of the Western movie…
Walk the Line movie review: finding his voice
I left the screening room on Monday afternoon with Johnny Cash’s voice— no, with Joaquin Phoenix’s where’d-he-get-that-from baritone echoing in my head…
