REMEMBERING ROBERT EVANS
Robert Evans didn’t set out to be a movie producer or studio executive. That he became both of those things was just one example of serendipity in his remarkable life. His death today at age 89 will undoubtedly inspire…
AND THE OSCARS GO TO…
I count my blessings over and over again. Having watched the Academy Awards since I was ten or eleven years old, I have to pinch myself whenever I rub shoulders with Oscar candidates at their annual nominee luncheon and…
A LITTLE RASCAL GETS HIS DUE: MICKEY DANIELS OF ‘OUR GANG’
Mickey Daniels was one of the original Our Gang kids. Freckle-faced and irresistibly likable, he helped make Hal Roach’s comedy shorts a hit in the silent-film era. He died in 1970 but decades later there was no headstone or…
MAKING MONTGOMERY CLIFT
This intriguing documentary was made by Robert Clift (the youngest of Montgomery’s nephews) in collaboration with Hillary Demmon. Its stated purpose is to set the record straight about the gifted actor who, with Marlon Brando, ushered in a new,…
‘JOJO RABBIT’ HITS THE MARK
Lest anyone misunderstand, Jojo Rabbit is being advertised as an “anti-hate satire.” The message is driven home in the very first scene, where we meet a Nazi youth who is being indoctrinated by Adolf Hitler himself. Filmmaker Taika Waititi plays Der…
REMEMBERING ROBERT FORSTER
I’ve never met anyone quite like Robert Forster. He was uncommonly kind and generous to me and my family; I suspect there are scores of people who would tell you the same thing. He had every right to be…
GEMINI MAN: TWO WILL SMITHS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
I was wary approaching Gemini Man, which I saw at 120 frames per second (about four times normal film speed) in 3-D. I got a headache the last time I watched a high-frame-rate feature but I came away from this…
