YESTERDAY: WHAT A LETDOWN
A good idea is a rare and precious gift. Screenwriter Richard Curtis has had many of them, leading to such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Notting Hill. He and Jack Barth had another good one: What if…
MY LINK TO GAME OF THRONES’ GEORGE R.R. MARTIN: FANZINES
Last weekend my daughter Jessie and I had the pleasure of interviewing George R.R. Martin at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, a charming theater/café/bookshop he operates in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had a great conversation for our podcast, Maltin on…
TOY STORY 4: A SUMMERTIME TREAT
I was dubious about the first sequel to Pixar’s wonderful Toy Story, which turned out to be terrific. But a fourth go-round for Woody, Buzz and company? I harbored doubts but I should have had more faith in the Pixar team.…
THELMA TODD IN THE NEWS AGAIN AFTER 80 YEARS
While sitting in a doctor’s waiting room yesterday I glanced at a TV monitor tuned to CNN. Imagine my surprise to see a 1935 newspaper clipping about the death of Thelma Todd, a longtime favorite of mine. The reason…
BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES
As a jazz aficionado I expected to hear a lot of good music in this documentary and anticipated a certain amount of archival footage and interviews with some of the great musicians who appeared on the Blue Note label…
FRED AND GINGER, FILM NOIR AND HAROLD LLOYD ON CRITERION
Three recent releases from The Criterion Collection have appeared on home video before, but the new Blu-ray/DVD editions are so good they make a strong case for upgrading these titles in your library. One reason is the exceptional quality…
LATE NIGHT: SMART COMEDY, PERFECT CAST
Mindy Kaling has written perfectly-tailored starring roles for herself and the great Emma Thompson in Late Night, a smart comedy that manages to be relevant without forgetting to be funny. Thompson is thoroughly believable as the longtime star of a…
