A Criterion Bluray of Cristian Munguiu‘s Graduation (Romanian: Bacalaureat) will street on 5.22.18. I don’t know why it’s been given a 2K mastering instead of 4K, but it has. Essential viewing for anyone with half a brain. Easily one of the best films of ’16 or ’17, whichever you prefer. It earned a pittance at … Read more
Cristian Mungiu‘s Graduation is a fascinating slow-build drama about ethics, parental love, compromised values and what most of us would call soft corruption. It basically says that ethical lapses are deceptive in that they don’t seem too problematic at first, but they have a way of metastasizing into something worse, and that once this happens … Read more
“I saw Stupid, Crazy, Love over the weekend,” critic Lewis Beale wrote this morning in an email. “Now I understand what you were so worked up about. That scene at the middle school graduation is so terrible, so unreal, so cringe-worthy, it practically destroyed what was otherwise a nice, entertaining rom-com. “I always wonder about … Read more
CNN’s Abby Phillip, temporary host of The Lead, vs. author Kenny Xu (“An Inconvenient Minority: The Harvard Admissions Case and the Attack on Asian American Excellence“) and a board member of Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in an historic argument over race-based admissions which the Supreme Court found in favor of yesterday. Phillip: “If … Read more
The following is a deliberate mangling and perversion of Patton Oswalt‘s recent commencement address at the College of William and Mary: “To the graduating class of 2023, I have 59 words to share: Every new generation is appropriately and admirably intolerant of ugly currents in the human condition and concurrently determined to enhance, elevate or … Read more
The promotional campaign for FX’s forthcoming Impeachment: American Crime Story (9.7, ten episodes), which focuses on the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal and is co-produced by Lewinsky, is heating up. I’ve tapped out two or three riffs on the series. All that’s left is to watch it and decide what’s what. There’s never been much doubt … Read more
Posted on 10.9.19: Yesterday three nice people (two guys and a gal) kicked the Bill-and-Monica saga around. I was one of the guys, but that’s as far as I’ll go with specifics. It started with a dispute about how much of a predator Bill Clinton might have been and how willing if not eager Ms. … Read more
Yesterday three nice people (two guys and a gal) kicked the Bill-and-Monica saga around. I was one of the guys, but that’s as far as I’ll go with specifics. It started with a dispute about how much of a predator Bill Clinton might have been and how willing if not eager Ms. Lewinsky might have … Read more
Regional film critic: “Like that all-too-common shot of the hero (or villain) walking away from an explosion right behind him, there’s a relatively recent film cliche that’s annoying the hell out of me. I call it the ‘baring intimate secrets in front of a crowd of total strangers‘ scene. “It occurs in Blinded By the … Read more
An HE:plus hors d’oeuvre, posted on 1.17.19: I’ve been a mildly angry guy most of my life. Contrarian, questioning authority, a pushback instinct. Born of my father’s alcoholism, aloofness and general disdain. Over the last 25 years of journalistic endeavor it’s been slipping out by way of the “three sees” — cerebral, channelled, controlled. But … Read more
Sorry for re-posting, but Criterion’s Bluray of Cristian Mungiu‘s Graduation pops tomorrow (5.22). Maybe there are some who missed my original review. Even if the jacket art bores or puzzles you, this 2017 film (which premiered in Cannes in May 2016) is really quite essential. It’s a fascinating slow-build drama about ethics, parental love, compromised … Read more
Roger Ebert once wrote that “the great movies enlarge us, they civilize us, they make us more decent people.” I’d like everyone reading this to stop what they’re doing for ten seconds, take a breath and ask themselves the following two questions: (a) “Has there ever been a Marvel or a D.C. Comics film that … Read more