Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

ONE WEEK AND A DAY (SHAVUA VE YOM)

Film In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 27, 2017

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Nothing is as individual or personal as the grieving process, which is why Asaph Polonsky’s debut feature One Week and a Day is so effective. With a talented cast, he finds absurdist humor in the midst of sadness that is so obvious it need never be spelled out. A middle-aged Israeli couple (Shai Avivi, Evgenia Dodina) have lost their 25-year-old son, and the traditional mourning period (or shiva) is nearly over when the film begins. Why is the couple so angry with their neighbors who were once close friends? Why does the taciturn father wind up goofing around with the neighbors’ grown-up son? How can the mother want to return to her job as a schoolteacher so soon after suffering such a wrenching loss? These…

JOHNNY DEPP AND ZOMBIES MAKE A BOY’S DREAM COME TRUE

Exclusive Journal Leonard Maltin April 24, 2017

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Less than a month ago Andy Shapiro over at Legendary put Jessie and me in contact with Tamika Lamison, founder and head of the Make a Film Foundation. As soon as I watched a TV news story about the organization, I was in. On Saturday night I moderated a panel following a screening of their newest film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hosted by actor Bruce Davison. It was an inspiring evening and I felt humbled to be a part of it. Once you learn about MAFF I think you’ll respond the same way. In the spirit of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, this group helps kids with life-threatening diseases realize their dream of creating a movie. Their motto? “LIFE…Camera…Action!” Most youngsters want to tell…

CHASING TRANE: AN ARTIST SUPREME

Film Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews Movie Talk Music April 21, 2017

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This has been a rich year for jazz-related documentaries. That happy trend continues with Chasing Trane, a tribute to John Coltrane by filmmaker John Scheinfeld, whose previous credits include The U.S. vs. John Lennon and Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him). Denzel Washington reads the words of Coltrane himself, adapted mostly from album liner notes, while family members, colleagues, and a host of admirers sing the musician’s praises (pun intended). When those admirers include such eloquent speakers as Wynton Marsalis, Dr. Cornel West, and President Bill Clinton the results go beyond mere “talking heads.” Any documentary is fortunate to have contributors of this caliber; this one soars on the wings of their words. Coltrane’s children provide some insight into the…

GENTLEMEN PREFER ANITA LOOS

Journal Leonard Maltin Movie Talk April 18, 2017

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In the weeks leading up this this year’s Academy Awards, Lesley Blume paid long-overdue tribute to pioneering screenwriter Anita Loos in a well-researched ARTICLE for the Hollywood Reporter. It reminded me of my own encounter with the woman responsible for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and I thought I’d share that conversation with you here. I had just taken over publication of Daryl Davy’s Film Fan Monthly in May of 1966 and was hungry for content. I had hoped to conduct a series of interviews with New York-based subjects, but I had no idea how to reach the people I wanted to meet. I lucked out when the publisher of Anita Loos’ autobiography, A Girl Like I, responded to my query. That’s how I found myself, at age 15, sitting…

THE UNSUNG GRANDFATHER OF ‘KING KONG’

Leonard Maltin Movie Talk April 16, 2017

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Willis O’Brien’s place in movie history is secure. He is the genius who engineered the stop-motion animation that made King Kong come to life in 1933. He made a series of caveman shorts for Thomas Edison in the teens and worked on the prototype for Kong, The Lost World (1925). We’ve always read that he was swindled by Herbert M. Dawley, his partner on an ambitious and widely-seen short called The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918). There was even a battle over patents on the armatures that made its prehistoric monsters so realistic. Dawley has consistently been portrayed as the bad guy. Now, thanks to the untiring efforts of the late Stephen A. Czerkas, it is time to rewrite history. A talented artist and sculptor…

INTERVIEW: Tim Davies, Conductor of LA LA LAND

Contributors Interviews April 16, 2017

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By Greg Ehrbar Tim Davies doesn’t believe in a narrow focus in music. He can turn with ease from 90-piece orchestras and big bands to rap and hip-hop. As a conductor, arranger and orchestrator, we’ve heard Tim’s work in a variety of film and TV projects like La La Land, Frozen, Jack Reacher, and Ant-Man. He recently turned composer for the Netflix animated series Trollhunters at the request of series creator Guillermo del Toro: GREG: Just for my own “Music 101” clarification—the arranger decides the flourishes, what the beat is and things like that, right? TIM: It’s changed a lot in recent years. If you’re looking at movie credits right now, in most big budget movies you might see additional arrangers and score arrangements…

CURIOUS ABOUT ‘THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS’?

Film In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews April 13, 2017

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It should come as no surprise that this is a big, dumb movie. It’s also old news that the series which began with The Fast and the Furious in 2001 has almost nothing to do with illegal street racing any more. Screenwriter Chris Morgan has turned the recurring characters into archetypes and the action into gargantuan, computer-generated set-pieces that have all the credibility of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Audiences seem to enjoy this reboot of the original premise, however, so there seems no reason for anyone to steer these Furious films in a different direction. But even the most diehard devotee may have difficulty accepting Charlize Theron as a nasty, psychopathic terrorist…or buying into the concept of nuclear weapons as the ultimate tool for a showdown…

CATCHING UP WITH BLU-RAYS

WHAT’S NEW ON 4K/BLU/DVD IN MARCH

A NEW BOOK FROM MALTIN AND MALTIN

STOLEN FACES

A BIT OF CRUMPET

WHAT’S NEW ON 4K/BLU/DVD IN FEBRUARY

ADAM SANDLER AND ME

ONE WEEK AND A DAY (SHAVUA VE YOM)

JOHNNY DEPP AND ZOMBIES MAKE A BOY’S DREAM COME TRUE

CHASING TRANE: AN ARTIST SUPREME

GENTLEMEN PREFER ANITA LOOS

THE UNSUNG GRANDFATHER OF ‘KING KONG’

INTERVIEW: Tim Davies, Conductor of LA LA LAND

CURIOUS ABOUT ‘THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS’?

CATCHING UP WITH BLU-RAYS

WHAT’S NEW ON 4K/BLU/DVD IN MARCH

A NEW BOOK FROM MALTIN AND MALTIN

STOLEN FACES

A BIT OF CRUMPET

WHAT’S NEW ON 4K/BLU/DVD IN FEBRUARY

ADAM SANDLER AND ME

ONE WEEK AND A DAY (SHAVUA VE YOM)

JOHNNY DEPP AND ZOMBIES MAKE A BOY’S DREAM COME TRUE

CHASING TRANE: AN ARTIST SUPREME

GENTLEMEN PREFER ANITA LOOS

THE UNSUNG GRANDFATHER OF ‘KING KONG’

INTERVIEW: Tim Davies, Conductor of LA LA LAND

CURIOUS ABOUT ‘THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS’?

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