The first six minutes of David O. Russell‘s American Hustle (Sony, 12.13) were shown at the very end of last night’s AFI Fest tribute to Russell at the Egyptian, and of course it wasn’t enough to go on. Not a flicker of a hint of what the film might actually be. What do you expect … Read more
27 months ago I posted a six-and-a-half-minute version of the legendary gang fight sequence from Geoffrey Wright‘s Romper Stomper (’92), one of the most indelible, pared-to-the-bone, punch-kick-and-wallop flicks about hate groups ever made. It starts with six or seven skinheads (led by an astonishingly young and slender Russell Crowe) beating up on three or four … Read more
World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy has posted a Best Films of the ’90s critics poll, which involved the top five picks of 175 prominent elites. The #1 pick is Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas. Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction came in second, Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs is ranked third, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo has … Read more
Yesterday seven Indiewire contributors riffed on twenty 2019 films that may, in some cases, excite woke-ish or avant-garde sensibilities…who knows? In alphabetical order: James Gray‘s Ad Astra, Harmony Korine‘s Beach Bum, Mia Hansen Love‘s Bergman Island, Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman, Taika Waititi‘s Jojo Rabbit, Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out, Dee Rees‘ The Last Thing He Wanted, … Read more
Here’s the latest HE rundown of 2019 films of a certain preferred quality. 88 as we speak. Possible critical faves, perhaps even award-season contenders. The two main categories are (a) general appeal flicks with bigger names and budgets (29), and (b) smarthouse, upmarket films for particular congregations (59). Further refinements to come. What have I … Read more
A guy who’s fed me stuff before and who has seemed fairly reliable says that a three-hour version of Alejandro G. Inarritu‘s The Revenant was research-screened last night on the 20th Century Fox lot. The source didn’t attend but he talked to a guy who did, and this guy says it’s his #1 film of … Read more
David O. Russell‘s American Hustle opened in six theatres yesterday to the tune of $211,000, and now’s the time for the HE community to weigh in. It’s one of the year’s best but…where do I start? I’m from New Jersey and the Jersey-based characters in American Hustle aren’t from my gene pool. I felt for … Read more
This latest American Hustle clip seems to be conveying the same under-message that those opening six minutes did. These late ’70s people with their atrocious hairstyles and clothing and borough accents are on the clueless side — under-educated, slow on the pickup. “Not bullshit…I read it in an ahhhtickle…thank God for me.” Get More: Movie … Read more
Early last evening I spoke with Bethlehem director Yuval Adler and Ali Waked, the Palestinian journalist with whom Adler co-wrote the screenplay. I wrote a few days ago that Bethlehem, Israel’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, is “a lucid, tightly wound thriller that regards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a filter of double-agenting … Read more
I was one of the few keyboard-tappers allowed into last night’s (Saturday, 2.23) Weinstein Co. party at West Hollywood’s Soho House. It was quite the hot-shit event, let me tell you. The currently configured creme de la creme of the Weinstein realm was there (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, David O. Russell, Katy Perry, … Read more
The only thing that’s happened since tapping out my most recent Sundance ’13 forecast piece is that I’ve decided to suck it in and definitely see Alexandre Moors‘ Blue Caprice, which I’d been reluctant to do in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Otherwise there’s Park Chan-Wook‘s Stoker….”probably more of a genre movie than anything … Read more
There are only five blazingly well-crafted, obviously levitational 2012 films that truly deserve to be Best Picture nominated. Not eight, seven or six…five. One of these is Michael Haneke‘s Amour, although I’m presuming it’s been relegated in most minds to the Best Foreign Language category. The second of these, Leo Carax‘s Holy Motors, has barely … Read more