We finally got around to seeing Nebraska. Of the four 2014 Oscar nominees I’ve now watched, this is my favorite. (The others are Dallas Buyer’s Club, Gravity and American Hustle.) My reasons for preferring it are strictly personal: the small-town West is a milieu I know pretty well. I grew up around these folks, and this sort of landscape. In my adult years, I’ve driven the same […]
On the road with ‘Llewyn Davis’
Inside Llewyn Davis is a minor film in a minor key, and if it didn’t have the Coen brothers’ name on it, it might not be getting so much awards-show buzz. But it’s still a compelling movie, even if it’s not one most people would want to see again. To be honest, this was the one movie I really wanted to see this winter. The premise sounded […]
The word that says it all
Sometimes as a kid I’d pick a word at random and just repeat it over and over. I found it interesting how quickly the word would lose its meaning and become just this odd sound issuing from my mouth. (Yeah, I had kind of a relaxed schedule as a kid.) I thought of this after Variety recently noted the new record for film use of the word […]
It’s always a good day for “Groundhog Day”
The other day we were talking about which movie to see next, and Tess mentioned Silver Linings Playbook. “But then,” she said, “I know how you hate romantic comedies.” That’s unfair. I don’t hate romantic comedies at all. I just hate almost any American romantic comedy made, say, in the past 10 or 15 years. You know the kind I mean: Two attractive quirky people meet-cute and […]
My favorite Oscar contenders so far
So far I’ve seen six of the nine Oscar nominees for best picture. Still unviewed: Amour, Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook. Of the ones I’ve seen, four are superb. It’s tough to rank them in order of preference. In any case, I won’t be howling at my TV if any of these four should win. Here are my impressions so far: Argo. I still haven’t forgiven […]
The kid carries the picture
I seem to be in the minority on this, but I do not care for the Oscar-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild. It might be, as some say, a “magical” celebration of childhood resilience, but it is also a celebration of ignorance, squalor and adult dissolution. Its precocious star, little Quvenzhane Wallis, carries the movie beyond the sum of its scenes, but at the end you’re left […]
How to review a film without seeing it
Well, I never saw this coming: Adam Sandler’s latest exercise in puerile nastiness appears to be the biggest piece of crap since … well, since Jack and Jill way back in 2011. Oh wait. I did see it coming. I know we still have half a year to go, but That’s My Boy appears to have an excellent shot at being the worst movie of 2012. I […]
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