Sidney Lumet, R.I.P. — the man who loved New York
It shouldn’t be big news when someone dies at the age of 86, but the filmmaker Sidney Lumet was so vital and so prolific for so many years that I was shocked to hear about his death on Saturday. As a...
View ArticleThe perfect gift for your ‘Scarface’-crazed drug dealer
If you have $999.99 burning a hole in your pocket — and hang out with any of the cult followers of the 1983 Brian DePalma film “Scarface” — have I got a one-of-a-kind gift for you! To celebrate the...
View ArticleAre critics and adult audiences grading ‘Argo’ on the curve?
Like nearly everyone else I know, I saw “Argo” recently and had a good time watching director-star Ben Affleck’s slick, fast-paced account of how a handful of the hostages taken at the U.S. Embassay in...
View Article‘I Knew It Was You’: the actor behind Fredo Corleone
It’s a common movie trivia question: what actor appeared in only five films, all of which happened to be nominated for best picture Oscars? John Cazale was the performer in question, who only lived to...
View ArticleBad Movies We Love: ‘The Swarm’
I was happy to see that the hilarious Manhattan gender illusionist Hedda Lettuce recently screened the 1978 disaster movie “The Swarm” as part of her regular Thursday night cult classics series at the...
View ArticleJoseph Sargent, R.I.P. — co-creator of a New York classic
Joseph Sargent, who died Monday in Malibu at the age of 89, was a journeyman director who worked on all sorts of material for television and the big screen. Sargent directed TV episodes of everything...
View Article‘Money Monster’: a summer film for adults
Plenty of serious-minded star vehicles are given limited releases each fall and winter for Oscar consideration, but it’s getting increasingly rare to see a smart Hollywood studio film for adults, like...
View ArticleThe era of incredibly long movie lines
A friend who is a William Friedkin fan marked the 43rd anniversary of the debut of “The Exorcist” on Monday with Tweets about the world premiere at Cinema I in New York. That started me thinking about...
View Article‘By Sidney Lumet’: a life in movies
The PBS “American Masters” series is kicking off its new season tonight with an in-depth look at the career of Sidney Lumet. The filmmaker, who died in 2011, sat for a series of extensive interviews in...
View ArticleIs this Glenn Close’s year to win an Oscar?
Quick! Name the movie that won Julianne Moore her best actress Oscar. If you think it’s “Magnolia” or “The Hours” or “Far from Heaven” you’re wrong. But I can’t blame you for not remembering the...
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