THE CRITIC
Any film bearing that title and Ian McKellen in the leading role holds the promise of good entertainment, even the possibility of greatness. Add to that the credentials of the writer, Patrick Marber (Closer, Notes on a Scandal), director…
BRINGING RARE MOVIES AND MOVIE LOVERS TOGETHER
This past weekend was like visiting an oasis. It brought back memories of attending the annual Cinefest in Syracuse, New York, where every day was packed with screenings—and lots of chatter with like-minded friends in between. I proposed to…
MERCHANT IVORY: A UNIQUE LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES
I screened this documentary out of a misplaced sense of duty. After all, the filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory made a number of exceptional films over many years’ time, and Ivory is still going strong at…
I’M GOING UNIVERSAL NEXT MONTH
I am proud and delighted to report that I am programming and hosting a series of six rarely-seen Universal Pictures from the 1930s next month at Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Theatre. From Friday to Sunday, September 20-22, I will…
MY PENGUIN FRIEND
This utterly likable, disarming film tells a true story about a Magellanic penguin who gets lost—and badly injured—off the coast of Brazil. He is rescued by a simple fisherman (Jean Reno) who is still shaken by the drowning of…
MODERNISM, INC.—A GOOD DOCUMENTARY BY DESIGN
I must confess that I wasn’t familiar with Eliot Noyes although, like other baby boomers, I was affected by his work. Noyes, the subject of this first-rate documentary, was an esteemed graphic designer who spearheaded the philosophy and practice…
TWISTERS DELIVERS THE GOODS
Shortly after seeing, and enjoying, the 1996 movie Twister, I noticed something on a colleague’s desk that made me laugh out loud: a copy of the published screenplay. If there were ever a film that made me want to read its…
