Click here to listen to the interview. When I spoke to Jay Roach on December 6, 2019, I wanted to know why he had been tempted to, as I put it, poke the bear by taking on one of the most embarrassing moments in Fox News history. In taking on the story of how Gretchen… Read More »
Dreary DARK PLACES
DARK PLACES is awash with dark moodiness as it tells a raggedy story that suffers from a failure of to find a narrative structure as strong or as compelling as the performance of his star, Charlize Theron. Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, on whose novel of the same name GONE GIRL was based,… Read More »
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
George Miller first sent Mad Max blazing across the sere post-apocalyptic landscape in 1979 and thence onto cinematic legend. Sequels followed. Mel Gibson in the eponymous role rose to international fame and, eventually, Miller moved on to different sorts of classics with BABE and HAPPY FEET. Now, thirty years and more later, he is revisiting… Read More »
35th Annual Razzie Awards — John Wilson is Still Fighting the Good Fight
I learned a long time ago that it’s pretty much impossible not to get facetious with the founder and Head Berry of the Golden Raspberry Awards Foundation. John Wilson, author, raconteur, and bringer down of bloated egos, began his valuable public service 35 years ago, and through the years his righteous drubbing of all that… Read More »
MONSTER
Patty Jenkins’ film, MONSTER, is brilliant, breathtaking, and completely unforgettable. Those are words that are sorely overused in the land of crit-speak, and yet there are few films that are so very deserving of them. Jenkins biographical story of Aileen Wournos, convicted serial killer, has all the earmarks of a tabloid tale from one of… Read More »
Oswalt Patton and YOUNG ADULT
Patton Oswalt was robbed. When I spoke to him on November 15, 2011, I was positive that he had a lock on a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in YOUNG ADULT. Certainly, no one that was subsequently nominated in that category gave a better performance. As Matt, the nerd hopelessly in love with… Read More »
Patty Jenkins Dissects MONSTER
For Patty Jenkins, MONSTER was more than a movie, it was a mission. The writer/director took a lot of risks, including the casting against type of the film’s star, Charlize Theron, as real-life serial killer Aileen Wournos. It paid off big time, and did so with a smart film that raises more questions about society than… Read More »