Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

THREE STOOGES, GROUCHO, BEAU GESTE AND OTHER OBSESSIONS

Blu-Ray/DVD Leonard Maltin April 29, 2023

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The line between scholarship and obsession is often blurry. Academics are praised for spending years on a thesis or book, while superfans and enthusiasts are often dismissed as wackos. Here are five happy results of personal, passionate pursuits: four significant books and one great DVD/Blu-ray. A TOUR DE FARCE: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE THREE STOOGES ON THE ROAD by Gary Lassin (The Stoogeum) This 765-page oversized book is incredibly heavy to pick up—but having plopped it on my lap the other night I found it equally difficult to put down. I am a sucker for photos of vintage theater marquees and old newspaper ads touting movie-plus-vaudeville shows. This book has literally hundreds of such images, along with a detailed record of every stage appearance…

‘ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET’

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 29, 2023

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As a critic, I hesitate to use the word “perfect” but it is the first adjective that comes to mind as I compose this review of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Several generations of girls will attest to the impact and resonance of Judy Blume’s perennially popular young-adult novel of the same name. Relative newcomer Kelly Fremon Craig, with only one feature film under her belt (The Edge of Seventeen), has crafted this adaptation of the book with fidelity and tender loving care. What’s more, she has cast it with a keen eye; I daresay there isn’t a false note in the entire film. Another newcomer, Abby Ryder Fortson, plays the heroine, who shares her candid thoughts about the challenges of oncoming puberty with…

‘CHEVALIER’: A BELATED INTRODUCTION

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 19, 2023

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Don’t feel ignorant if you’ve never heard of Joseph Bologne; neither had some of the people who made this movie. It’s easy to see why they responded to its story once it was uncovered. Bologne was the illegitimate son of a white 18th century plantation owner and a black slave woman. He was born with a gift for music and was a brilliant violinist and composer, as we learn in a sensational opening sequence that pairs him on stage with none other than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The scene is a tour de force that sets up everything that follows. Kelvin Harrison, Jr. embodies the adult Bologne, who was welcomed in Marie Antoinette’s court in spite of being black, because he carried himself with great elegance and…

‘SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS’

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 19, 2023

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Ray Romano made his bones, so to speak, as the star and co-creator of the hugely successful TV series Everybody Loves Raymond. Since its demise, the former standup comic has avoided trying to repeat himself and done admirably well (see Get Shorty, The Big Sick, The Irishman). Now he has made his directing debut with a film he stars in and also wrote, with Mark Stegemann, one of his collaborators on the excellent if short-lived series Men of a Certain Age. At first glance the feature seems to be cut from the same cloth as Raymond, but that’s only because it shares the sitcom’s honest use of a natural resource: working-class Italian-American family life in one of New York City’s five boroughs. Every character has an individual identity and…

‘AIR’ GIVES MATT DAMON ROOM TO BREATHE

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 6, 2023

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The only problem facing Air is that people may be expecting a bigger movie, as one might assume given that the ostensible subject is basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Here’s the truth: although the story revolves around him, Jordan isn’t really in the picture, and there is almost no real-time basketball footage. Air is a modest, entertaining behind-the-scenes film about the marketing whiz (Matt Damon) who believed in Jordan when he was still a rookie and tried to convince his boss, Nike founder Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) to put his money and muscle to work crafting and promoting a shoe that bore his name. Affleck knows a bit about underplaying, as he showed in directing Argo. He also has a lot of fun portraying the famously eccentric Knight. Even rumpled up, Damon…

A BIT OF CRUMPET WITH MARK SEARBY

A Bit Of Crumpet April 6, 2023

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Leonard here. My colleague Mark Searby is going to be sharing monthly columns with us highlighting British cinema past and present. Please enjoy A Bit of Crumpet. No Sex Please, We’re British goes the title of the British comedy farce, and nothing could be morecorrect when it comes to Brits discussing sex in films and TV shows. For decades it was almost taboo to show or even talk all things sex in mainstream feature films. It just wasn’t the done thing. However, if you scratched underneath that stoic exterior then you’d find that actually the British have been making some pretty hard-hitting films about sex and sexual proclivities for almost as long as they’ve been making films. Take for example Saraband for Dead Lovers, a…

THE MAN WHO STOLE AN OSCAR FROM CLARK GABLE

Leonard Maltin March 24, 2023

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When speaking of great stars from the golden age of Hollywood, one name is often conspicuous by its absence: Robert Donat. Yes, he was British, but he also worked in Hollywood and the year that Gone With The Wind swept the Academy Awards he walked off with the Oscar for his performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, an MGM movie made in England. I recently rekindled my great fondness for Donat when I chanced to see the last half-hour of The Citadel on Turner Classic Movies. It’s a wonderful film, directed by King Vidor and adapted from a novel by A.J. Cronin. The leading role, a crusading doctor who temporarily loses his way, is perfectly suited to its star—supported here by Rosalind Russell and a scene-stealing…

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