Why is Dr. Who’s time-traveler ship, the Tardis, shaped like a British police box? Jill Lepore answers in a New Yorker piece marking the fiftieth anniversary of the TV show’s first episode. In fact, there were several answers. One was faux-scientific: “The outside appearance of . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Doherty gives a chilling example of Nazi film criticism in his Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 . As summarized by the TLS reviewer, “Nobody sensed the power of cinema more acutely than the propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. As early as December 1930, at the German premiere of . . . . Continue Reading »
A cold has severely damaged my already limited thinking abilities. I just rewatched “The Way of the Gun”. I saw it about a dozen years ago and remembered it as an enjoyable and darkly funny action movie with an exceptional performance by James Caan. Seeing it again, the movie, for . . . . Continue Reading »
As “Breaking Bad” winds down, the Economist suggests that the show offers as much insight into business as a Harvard MBA at a fraction of the cost. What makes high-school-teacher-turned-meth-producer Walter White’s business successful? There are three ingredients: “The first . . . . Continue Reading »
In the course of a TNR meditation on the enduring popularity of Alfred Hitchcock, David Thomson comments on Hitchcock’s fascinations: “he loved Mount Rushmore in the moonlight, and a semi-desert prairie with crops where no crops would grow, and all those staircases on which ordeals are . . . . Continue Reading »
What’s so special about movies? asks Martin Scorcese in the NYRB . His answer is a mystical one: “Light is at the beginning of cinema, of course. It’s fundamental—because cinema is created with light, and it’s still best seen projected in dark rooms, where it’s . . . . Continue Reading »
So I saw Man of Steel again and here are some thoughts, 1. Peter Lawler’s subversive interpretation of the Republic-in-speech is also the film’s subversive interpretation of the Republic-in-speech. 2. Zod’s tragedy is that he has completely collapsed the categories of good man and . . . . Continue Reading »
Don’t believe the professional movie critics. Just as Superman Returns has seen its reputation (deservedly) decline since it came out, Man of Steel is likely to see its critical reputation improve in the years ahead. The most puzzling critique of Man of Steel is that it lacks the . . . . Continue Reading »
Noah Baumbach loves Greta Gerwig and its not funny. Frances Ha is amusing, but the “ha” is always on its own, without an accompanying “ha” (repeat) that makes for real laughter. The movie is and is not about Greta Gerwig. Greta Gerwig has had a very . . . . Continue Reading »
OK, so it’s old, but Geoffrey O’Brien’s NYRB review of Malick’s The Tree Of Life is one of the best things I’ve come across. A few highlights. “An aroma of Freudian family romance pervades the film like a cloud of slightly acrid perfume, and Malick (who has . . . . Continue Reading »
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