Life imitates art
Remember the movie “Delivery Man,” about a sperm donor who is put in touch with the many children he’s fathered? Well, here’s a real-life story like that.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Movies
Longest sniper kill confirmed
It occurred in Iraq, killed an ISIS fighter, was by a Canadian sniper, and was fired from two miles away (11,319 feet.). That’s pretty extraordinary. The sniper and the exact location have not been identified, but we do know this: … Continue reading →
Groundhog Day: the musical
Until a reader alerted me, I hadn’t realized that one of my favorite movies of all time—one I’ve written quite a few posts about—had been turned into a musical. My gut reaction was that it must be a bad idea. … Continue reading →
Sanctuary!
I just published a post about sanctuary cities mayors’ defiance of Trump’s order regarding reporting the arrest of illegal aliens. But now I want to emphasize the power of the word “sanctuary,” which was originally chosen by the activists behind … Continue reading →
“Oliver Twist”: on depicting violence
As far as I’m concerned, the 1948 David Lean black-and-white version of “Oliver Twist” is the masterpiece of the many movie versions of the story. I first saw the film as a child and it scared me horribly at times, … Continue reading →
Compare and contrast: the endings of “Pygmalion” and “My Fair Lady”—and life
First, the straight play “Pygmalion,” movie version with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller: Now, the musical “My Fair Lady” with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn: The scene continues in this next brief clip. The part where Howard as Higgins furiously … Continue reading →
Film about the Holodomor
I was surprised the other day to see a TV ad for a film that looked to be about the Stalin-engineered Ukrainian famine (known as the Holodomor). What an excellent topic for a film, and one few people today know … Continue reading →
And reports of her death were greatly exaggerated
This Oscar error wasn’t noticed by so many people. But to Jan Chapman, it was a bit of a shock: Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee (“The Piano,” “Portrait of a Lady,” “Oscar and Lucinda” and … Continue reading →
The Oscars: gaseous glamour and gigantic gaffes
Blame it on Bonnie and Clyde (aka Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty) in their dotage. Blame it on the Russians, who must have hacked the thing. Because the f-up at the end of the Oscars—the climax, as it were—was monumental. … Continue reading →
At the movies: yearning for romance
The Oscars are being held tomorrow. I can understand why a lot of people might not want to watch them: the self-satisfied political posturing, the paucity of good movies, the windy acceptance speeches, and the sleaziness of what passes for … Continue reading →
Success and single-minded obsession
Obsession may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for success in the arts (and perhaps even elsewhere). I know quite a few people who later became famous—some a little famous, some more famous. Having known these people in childhood … Continue reading →
More from Astaire and Rogers
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers generated more human happiness than many do-gooders. In the comments to the YouTube videos of their dance routines, you can find many people (some of them, I assume, young people) lamenting the death of this … Continue reading →