daily stream: why does a movie about depressed writers feel festive? I try to explain…
2000’s Wonder Boys is on Paramount+ in the US (and other services, too), and exclusively on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Tobey Maguire
Molly’s Game movie review: absolutely aces
Bold, tough, hugely entertaining. Like a new GoodFellas, except about a woman caught up in her own impudence and daring. Jessica Chastain is badass.
Spider-Man: Homecoming movie review: boys and their alien toys
Thoroughly charming. Spider-Man’s signature light comedy works surprisingly well even as this story is uniquely steeped in the darker Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Pawn Sacrifice movie rating: red light
Yawningly dull Cold War chess drama squanders the charms and talents of Tobey Maguire (as Bobby Fischer) and Liev Schreiber (as Boris Spassky).
Labor Day review: Stockholm-syndrome romance
A gooey nostalgic look back at that time a young boy’s mom fell in love with their kidnapper, presented under a sexy sweltering summer haze.
The Great Gatsby mini review
Alternately intriguing and infuriating: it’s very like the sort of movie exuberantly excessive Gatsby himself might have made.
The Details (review)
A mealy, wan attempt at a black comedy.
The Details (trailer)
I’m gonna hope that perhaps the fantastic cast here will make yet one more tale of a man fucking up endurable.
question of the day: Do actors deserve to be well paid for appearing in successful films even if they are not the entire reason the films are successful?
New York Post critic Kyle Smith cries foul at the fact that Kristen Stewart is so well paid for Twilight, but he seems to miss a key point…
question of the day: Are you worried about the new ‘Great Gatsby’ movie?
With Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Baz Luhrmann onboard at this point, is it worth giving this movie a chance, at least until we start seeing terrible trailers? Or should some novels simply be written off as unfilmmable?
