Roger Ebert's 10 greatest films of all time
Robert Loggia: won Best Supporting Actor Oscar for role in Big, one of my favorites
Netflix too powerful? Spielberg the man to save us?
2018 films:
Escape Room Genesis 2.0 The Vanishing Rust Creek
Homecoming Bodyguard The Sinner The Good Place
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An American in Paris: 1/8/19
Holds up after all these years because of the music and the humor. Gene Kelly sure could dance. Leslie Caron was charismatic, and Oscar Levant, well, somehow the camera loved him, and he pulled it off. Ah, the dancing was magnificent,but that music is magical.
#Music #Dance #American song book
Ant-Man and Wasp 2/26/19
Not my usual style of film, but I know Paul Rudd from Wallflower, so I decided to try it. What can I lose? I said; I loved the film. What simple, harmless fun.
Definitely, Maybe: 1/24/19
A favorite, on my annual winter cinema list. Great opening. "It depends what the meaning of is is."
#Romance #Parenting #Politics #Cellphones #LanguageDirty Dancing: 1/19/19
As it has occurred to me before, when I watch the film I just don't understand how Cynthia Rhodes (Penny) did not become a star.
#Dancing #Catskills #Rock and roll #Music
As tragic as it is, the film is funny and romantic. Oda Mae. That song.
#Romance #Finance #Good #Evil
Guilty by suspicion 2/25/19
Robert DeNiro plays an American film director whose career is destroyed by the McCarthyite tactics of red hunters practiced by such stalwarts as Richard Nixon. This is a shameful chapter in American history, and the film does a good job of examining it.
The Help: 1/25/19
Not so long ago, white Americans who considered themselves law-abiding enslaved their dark brethren because they would not overcome their prejudices, even after the Supreme Court gave them time to do so with all deliberate speed.
#Race relations #Racism #Civil Rights
By pure happenstance, I found this film on the shelf in my local library. I like both primary actors. Sounded good; loved it. What a gem.
It's a courageous film that's willing to sit in those moments instead of underlining them or hurrying past them, hoping we get the shorthand. "Love is Strange" is a patient film. The emotions it unleashes are enormous.
#Gay rights #Romance
Perks of being a wallflower: 1/7/19
It is an integral part of my annual to-watch film list. I can not remember when I first watched it; perhaps four years ago. I loved it that first time, and enjoy it every time I see it. The characters appeal to me. I think I wish I’d had Charlie’s nerve in approaching people and luck in making friends. My own insanity wasn’t quite the same, but I visited the neighborhood. Can Charlie come out and play?
#Film #Coming of age #Pittsburgh #High school
Rififi: 2/24/19
A classic. First, the setup: a gangster, back from the clink, sees his moll with a nightclub owner, a rival (what follows these days would land the film maker in political correctness hell); the title song done with a little élan; four gangsters plan a daring heist, each bringing a special skill; 45 minutes into the film, the heist is executed, and for twenty minutes there is no dialogue or music, just the incidental sounds the four try to suppress; the deed is done, and they try to fence the stolen jewels. The film's director, Jules Dassin, was an American film maker blacklisted during the McCarthy scare; he moved to France to make films.
Role models: 2008)
I have long considered Roger Ebert the gold standard in film criticism: reading him expanded my understanding of the film, and made me think. If I have a doubt or a question about a film, I go to the website for guidance (even now that Roger himself is gone). Here is an example of where I disagreed with him: this movie does not attain the height he declares for it; even though I laughed, and watched it to the end, I winced far too many times.
Run Lola Run: 1/26/19.
Roger Ebert gave it 3 stars; his opinion is/was the gold standard. Ebert: I would not want to see a sequel to the film, and at 81 minutes it isn't a second too short, but what it does, it does cheerfully, with great energy, and very well. Answer to a Jeopardy question, or, better put, question to a Jeopardy answer. Strange. 3 versions of the same puzzle. Funky music. Europeans simply make films differently than Hollywood. From 1999.
Shawshank Redemption: 1/12/19
Good as always. Zihuatanejo.
#Mexico #Prison #Redemption #Friendship
Space Cowboys
Enjoyable, despite Clint Eastwood’s politics and grimaces.
The film is a perfect example of the saying buy the premise, buy the film.
#Aging #Space #AstronautsDecember 2018
Grease
Big
The hustler November 2018
Slap shot November 2018
terribly outdated; even Newman could not save this clunker
terribly outdated; even Newman could not save this clunker
Nobody’s fool November 2018
Shaft November 2018
Right on!)
Shall we Dance? 1/6/19
Right on!)
Shall we Dance? 1/6/19
the Japanese film, not the Hollywood imitator. A sort of love story: Mr. Sugiyama looks up
from a window in the train he’s taking home and sees a woman standing at a window of a
dance studio. He decides to try dancing, and a quirky comedy romance follows. It is not
a ha-ha sort of comedy, though I did laugh out loud a handful of times. I took dance lessons
in 2005, and identify with the characters in that way. It is on my annual to-watch films list.
#Film #Japan #Dance Sully November 2018
even with Tom Hanks, a clunker
Road to perdition November 2018
Hanks and Newman; violent
Hanks and Newman; violent
Empire Falls November 2018
The enemy below October 2018
Man on the moon October 2018
Thank you very much October 2018
Thank you very much October 2018
The Majestic October 2018
The right stuff October 2018
(still has it)
(still has it)
American Master: Ted Williams October 2018
great baseball player, crap film
great baseball player, crap film
Apollo 13 October 2018
Marshall September 2018
Moscow on the Hudson
A grand old favorite
Moscow on the Hudson
A grand old favorite