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That’s Entertainment! III

“Timed to coincide with MGM’s 70th anniversary and assembling as many of the remaining legends of its Arthur Freed unit as possible, That’s Entertainment! III is less a film than an extended advertisement for the home video releases of the various films highlighted here. It’s cute to see stars ” read more

Liza with a Z

“Every ingenue has her year. It may not be the year of their first movie or first success in some facet of the entertainment world, but the year where they elevate from “promising young talent” to the “it girl” of the moment. 1972 was Liza Minnelli’s year.   If Minnelli’s pedigree wasn” read more

Antony and Cleopatra

“Charlton Heston clearly felt some kind of kinship, or siren song, or it was “the role,” the one that all actors dream of taking on from the theatrical canon. Either which way you glance at it, Heston playing the character three times on film and television, including in his directorial debut, wa” read more

Othello

“The main players deliver capital-A ACH-TING! in this adaptation of the Bard’s tale of revenge and racism, but it’s all undercut by a flatlined directorial job. This isn’t a movie. This is a filmed stage play in an almost literal sense as there’s one set with rotating parts and acts walking i” read more

A Midsummer Night's Dream

“A translation of director Max Reinhardt’s Hollywood Bowl production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most sumptuous, shimmering, and enthralling adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. Yes, the use of movie stars was and remains controversial (the more things change, right), but there’s s” read more

God’s Own Country

“God’s Own Country finds tenderness to be the antidote to emotional abuse and a way to reinforce emotional strength. I suppose finding any tenderness in the Yorkshire countryside is a feat in itself as the frigid, windy landscapes aren’t exactly an inviting landscape to thrive in. This miserablis” read more

TMNT

“I was exactly the target age for a rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise that wasn’t explicitly kiddie back in 2007. I know I’ve watched this movie at least twice, each time thinking I hadn’t seen it before only to realize I had but forgotten practically all of it. That about summariz” read more

Hollywood Shuffle

“Well, it’s been nearly 33 years since Hollywood Shuffle came out and its various critiques of Hollywood still largely hold true. Yes, the miniscule budget and ramshackle narrative structure mean that it is only as good as any particular satirical scene, but enough of them are smart and barbed to o” read more

A Man for All Seasons

“Fred Zinnemann made several great films of the studio era, like From Here to Eternity, High Noon, and The Nun’s Story. His style was spartan craftsmanship with an emphasis on the psychological reality of his characters, and a keen eye for casting that brought some of the best performances of their” read more

The Crimson Kimono

“Is Samuel Fuller a B-movie poet or a masculine cult figure of the American cinema? A little bit of both, in my opinion as it depends on the film. Even then, sometimes the film in question is a blurring of the two modes.   Take The Crimson Kimono, a pleasurable little jewel that lands somewhere b” read more

Diva

“Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Diva is all impeccably detailed frames, cool, smooth surfaces awash in bold colors like pinks and whites and wrapped up in moody lighting and scoring. The details of the plot are inconsequential and preposterous as they merely exist to serve the mood of the piece. Diva is no” read more

Thank God It’s Friday

“What a fascinating and godawful curio this is. Can something with a banging soundtrack really be all that bad? In the answer, it would appear, is yeah, it can. Famous for being the first big screen role of Debra Winger, containing Donna Summer’s immortal “Last Dance” (which won the Best Song O” read more

Footlight Parade

“Of Busby Berkeley’s three 1933 Warner Brothers films, I would place Footlight Parade in the bronze slot with Gold Diggers of 1933 in the gold and 42nd Street in silver. I suppose a lot of the enjoyment one gets out of Footlight Parade is your ability to stomach the likes of Dick Powell and Ruby Ke” read more