Category: Film

  • Year by year: My faves of the 1990s

    For cinephiles, 1999 is considered a banner year akin to 1939 (Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, etc.), but truth be told, the entire decade was freaking awesome. 1990: 10. The Exorcist III, director: William Peter Blatty9. Reversal of Fortune, director: Barbet Schroeder8. The Comfort of Strangers, director: Paul Schrader7. The Hunt for…

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

    There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to how one feels about writer-director Wes Anderson. His meticulously fussy visual style, offbeat humor and unflagging quirkiness have won both ardent fans and equally ardent detractors; one viewer’s delight is another’s eye-rolling preciousness. The Grand Budapest Hotel, quintessential Anderson, will not woo the unconverted. As with…

  • Year by year: My faves of the 2000s

    9/11. The Iraq War. Hurricane Katrina. It was a fascinating decade in life, to say the least, and movies reflected that. 2000: 10. The Cell, director: Tarsem Singh9. American Psycho, director: Mary Harron8. High Fidelity, director: Stephen Frears7. Quills, director: Philip Kaufman6. Gladiator, director: Ridley Scott5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?, director: Joel Coen4. You…

  • A Serious Man (2009)

    Larry Gopnik, the mild-mannered protagonist of Joel and Ethan Coens’ A Serious Man, is in a doozy of an existential crisis. His wife is leaving him for another man. He is being financially and psychologically squeezed by his self-absorbed children. And just as this college physics professor is on the cusp of receiving tenure, Larry’s…

  • Holiday Inn (1942)

    Holiday Inn is about as corny as it gets, but this Paramount musical conjures magic by bringing together three preeminent figures of 20th century song and dance: Irving Berlin, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Even if this 1942 picture wasn’t so much glossy fun, it would have earned a place in pop culture history for introducing…

  • The Brothers Solomon (2007)

    Considering the scathing reviews that greeted The Brothers Solomon upon its theatrical release, you’d think the filmmakers had been guilty of beating children and small dogs. I am happy to report that the movie I saw was guilty of nothing worse than mediocrity. Directed by Bob Odenkirk and penned by Saturday Night Live alum Will…

  • Lady in the Water (2006)

    Judging by the charges of rank self-indulgence that M. Night Shyamalan endured at the time for Lady in the Water, you might half-expect it to be 108 minutes of the director singing in the shower, brushing his teeth, and taking a dump while reading the Philadelphia Inquirer. The movie’s reception by critics in 2006 was…

  • Year by year: My faves of the 1950s

    Eisenhower. The Red Scare. Suburbia. Shopping malls. McDonald’s. Television. Rock ‘n’ roll. Beatniks. Duck and cover. Oh, and movies, especially the rise of world cinema. 1950: 10. Born Yesterday, director: George Cukor9. Born to Be Bad, director: Nicholas Ray8. Gun Crazy, Joseph H. Lewis7. The Gunfighter, director: Henry King6. Night and the City, director: Jules…