movies by or about women opening US/Can Dec 13
Sophia Takal directs and writes, with April Wolfe, Black Christmas, starring Imogen Poots and Aleyse Shannon; more… [This post is for Patreon patrons only for the first month.]
Pauline Kael
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael documentary review: art and trash in measured quantities
A terrific portrait of the legendary critic, as objective as she was proudly subjective. Pulls no punches on her complicated life and work but rightly hails how she revolutionized thinking about film.
question of the day: What is the best screen kiss ever?
Or maybe just your favorite(s)? What makes a screen kiss great?
question of the day: Do movies matter anymore?
It’s impossible to imagine anyone in the 1960s instructing us to turn our brains off when we go to the movies. Now, that’s all we hear, because even on the rare occasion when a movie has something significant to say, hardly anyone wants to bother with that aspect…
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (review)
As critic turned filmmaker Gerald Peary’s documentary demonstrates, the field has been chock full of personality clashes, political posturing, conflicts of interest, and damned opinionated voices since forever.
Warren Beatty vs Pauline Kael, MacGruber movie in trouble, more: leftover links
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
Disney doesn’t want me to see ‘Up’
Oh yes, I’ve had it right from the Mouse’s mouth: Disney will not be extending me an invitation to see its new Pixar flick, Up, before it opens on Friday. It’s all because of what happened in March, with Race to Witch Mountain, when my Disney rep lied to me repeatedly about whether the film … more…
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (review)
It’s something close to a stroke of genius that once-wunderkind screenwriter Shane Black sought out Robert Downey Jr. to star in his directorial debut. Not because Downey is so achingly sublime an actor and so funkily charismatic a screen presence that it near to makes you want to weep with despair at what brilliance we’ve missed from him over the years during which he wasn’t able to keep his shit together — though he certainly does give us one of the most deliciously shivery-great performances so far this year in *Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.*
