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WEST SIDE STORY…AGAIN

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
9036

Was anyone hankering for a new film adaptation of West Side Story? Did this venerable musical need refreshing? I honestly don’t think so. The multi-Oscar-winning 1961 movie is unquestionably dated, but it is a product of its time and the prevailing mindset in Hollywood. It was also a smash hit with the public. Having outsized talents like Steven Spielberg and playwright Tony Kushner at the helm helped ease this production into being without vocal opposition. Hiring the indomitable Rita Moreno to appear in a newly-fashioned supporting role didn’t hurt. She is also credited as an executive producer. And, barely one week before his demise, lyricist Stephen Sondheim gave the new interpretation his ringing endorsement. So who am I to complain? The movie starts well, in a paraphrase…

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THE FRENCH DISPATCH: QUEL FROMAGE

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
6601

Writer-director Wes Anderson enjoys inventing worlds all his own, then inviting his ever-growing community of actors to occupy them so fully that we, too, become engaged. It’s a risky proposition that sometimes works beautifully (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and often defies the viewer to become absorbed in it (Moonrise Kingdom). There is no “right” or “wrong” response, only a personal reaction to the material at hand. Here, his inspiration is The New Yorker magazine, founded in the 1920s but riding a wave of literary discovery in the 1950s and 60s. I am a longtime reader, but you don’t have to have to be intimately acquainted with the real-life contributors to recognize them in parody form—still, some degree of awareness doesn’t hurt. Following the format of a magazine,…

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THE BEST MOVIE BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD

Books Leonard Maltin
7266

I never dreamed I would be in partnership with the world-famous Larry Edmunds Bookshop, but they are your one-stop source for a personally signed copy of my brand-new book Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood (GoodKnight Books) When I made my first trip to Los Angeles in 1968 to attend the Cinecon, I was happy to learn that our convention headquarters, The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was within walking distance of Larry Edmunds. The store was renowned for its comprehensive array of film books as well as movie stills, posters, scripts and other memorabilia. When I walked in and surveyed the scene, with oodles of books and boxes and boxes of 8x10s, I wasn’t disappointed. Gawking comes naturally to anyone encountering such a scene. I’m even happier to…

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PLENTY OF TIME TO DIE: THE NEW JAMES BOND MOVIE

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
9387

The caretakers of the Intellectual Property known as James Bond, knowing that their newest effort would be the last one to star Daniel Craig, decided to spare no expense—or footage—to make this an “epic” entry in the long-running series. The result is a lavish piece of entertainment that ought to please any 007 fan. My only complaint is that there’s just too much of it. Any film that asks its audience to sit still and pay attention for nearly 3 hours had better have a damn good reason. This one doesn’t. No Time to Die has all the requisite ingredients for a James Bond outing: a charismatic leading man, a beautiful leading lady, at least one creepy criminal, exotic locations, and a variety of pulse-pounding action…

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CELEBRATING JERRY LEWIS

Books Leonard Maltin
5760

I can’t pretend to have any objectivity about Jerry Lewis. I grew up worshiping him. And while I came to realize that he was fallibly human I never stopped being impressed, especially after I met him. That’s why I didn’t hesitate when the publisher asked me to contribute a foreword to a new edition of his 1971 book The Total Filmmaker (Michael Wiese Productions) I have an original hardcover copy of the book on my shelf but this quality paperback reprint has many additions that make it worth owning: introductory essays by Nicolas Cage, Deana Martin, and Jerry‘s widow as well as several notable filmmakers (Randal Kleiser. Caleb Deschanel and Peter Arnold) who attended his classes at USC in the late 1960s. Cage’s piece is especially touching.…

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LET’S TALK TO LUCY

Leonard Maltin
7410

Half a century before Marc Maron started welcoming guests to his garage and podcasts became popular, Lucille Ball hauled around a reel-to-reel tape recorder to conduct interviews with the likes of Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Carol Burnett and Danny Kaye for CBS Radio. Now, episodes of Let’s Talk to Lucy from 1964-65 are being made available on Apple Podcasts and SiriusXM Radio’s app. (A handful of these 15-20 minute shows were included as bonus content with the Blu-ray release of one Here’s Lucy and The Lucy Show…but nobody seemed to notice.) Histories of American radio will tell you that the last network shows aired from 1960 to 62. But two years later, William S. Paley’s Tiffany network gave daytime radio one last chance. Who would dream that one of the busiest…

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SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews
4840

Don Rugoff changed the face of moviegoing in New York in the 1960s and had a lasting impact on the way foreign and independent films were distributed and advertised. I was part of that audience but frankly, I had forgotten about the man’s enormous contributions until I watched Ira Deutchman‘s new documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff. It took me back in time and reminded me that he was an avatar of film culture in the 1970s, when I was still living in New York. His east side Manhattan theaters were the place to see the hottest new movies in chic, comfortable surroundings. He even had clever window displays (designed by John Willis, who appears in the documentary). I had no knowledge of the man behind all…

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