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http://www.laweekly.com/2004-09-30/art-books/breathing-while-black/
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19,0,5335087.story?coll=la-opinion-center
Commented Jan 20, 2013 on The not-entirely-pure evil of "The Birth of a Nation" at Some Came Running
The not-entirely-pure evil of "The Birth of a Nation"
"The Little Colonel" (Henry B. Walthall) performs a stupid and futile but nevertheless rousing gesture in Griffith's film. In his December 2012 interview with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Quentin Tarantino notes of Thomas Dixon's The Clansmen, that it "really can only stand next to Mein Kampf when i...
Seeing "Victim" with my mother. It was 1961 and I was nanoseconds away from coming out. Her reaction to the film? "Oh that Dirk Bogarde is such a good actor."
Her reaction to me? Dead silence.
Commented Aug 26, 2012 on Almost too easy at Some Came Running
Almost too easy
At the end of a post for Indie/CriticWire chronicling some "awkward moviegoing experiences," the ever-game Matt Singer asks readers if they can "top" his anecdote about how he ill-advisedly brought his future in-laws to see Knocked Up. My answer is, yes, in a walk. Frenzy with my grandmother...
Kelly began his career as the Ultimate Heel -- on Broadway in "Pal Joey."
Commented Aug 26, 2012 on Born 100 years ago today: Mr. Gene Kelly at Some Came Running
Born 100 years ago today: Mr. Gene Kelly
From top: Summer Stock, Charles Walters, 1950; The Pirate, with Judy Garland, Vincente Minnelli, 1948; Words and Music, with Vera-Ellen, 1948, Norman Taurog and Robert Alton; It's Always Fair Weather, Kelly and Stanley Donen, 1955.
"The Legend of Lylah Clare" began its life as a TV drama. It was written by Robert Thom,directed by Sydney Pollack and starred
(wait for it)
Tuesday Weld
Commented Jul 10, 2012 on Borgnine at Some Came Running
Borgnine
In the film that, at the age of thirteen, I used to exclusively refer to as "Emperor Of My North Pole." Whaddya want, I was thirteen. Seeing the actual film, and Ernest Borgnine's almost literally Satanic performance in it, shut me up for a bit. The Robert Aldrich drama, pitting train-hopping ...
I've been thinkinga bout him lately as he appears in the documentary "L'Enfer de L'Henri-Georges Clouzot." He was one of the camera operators on that great doomed project.
His work with Rivette speaks for itself. I especially love "Duelle."
Commented May 6, 2010 on William Lubtchansky, 1937-2010 at Some Came Running
William Lubtchansky, 1937-2010
L'amour par terre, Jacques Rivette, 1984 Une visite au Louvre, Danielle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, 2004 Shoah, Claude Lanzmann, 1985 One of the greatest cinematographers of this or any other era. He died of heart disease at age 73 yesterday.
Beatty's filmography is incredibly thick. Putting his appearance on TV's "The Man Loves of Dobie Gillis" aside (and Tuesday Weld has been adamantabout him NEVER getting to even first base with her, much less home plate) his career begins at the top in 1961 with "Splendor in the Grass" in whcih he STARS. A mere six years later he not only stars but produces "Bonnie and Clyde" -- the seminal film of the 60's. Any comparasions? Nope.
This was in the cards early on. My favorite Betty story concerns an argument he had with Robert Rossen over a line in "Lilith." He was suppsoed to say "I've read Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov." Warren wanted to say "I've read Crime and Punishment and HALF of The Brothers Karamazov."
Nohting Biskind says about Warren and His Mighty Penis beats what Warren said himself in "Shampoo." His politics is likewise there for the world to see in his two best films "Reds" and "Bulworth."
At his worst he goes sappy. "Heaven Can Wait" isn't much and "Love Affair" just sits there.
"Dick Tracy" is worth another look however. "What Can You Lose?" is one of my very favortie Sondheim songs.
Commented Jan 21, 2010 on Hang on to yourself: Beatty, Biskind, and burning bridges at Some Came Running
Hang on to yourself: Beatty, Biskind, and burning bridges
Reading Peter Biskind's Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America was, for me, a largely enervating experience. Yes, I know; the book is reputed to be a feast of dish, full of jaw-dropping revelations about the putatively irresistible actor/writer/producer/director whose footprint on the culture ("...
"How many defining motion pictures does a filmmaker have to make to be considered great?"
ONE!
Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter"
Commented Jan 21, 2010 on Hang on to yourself: Beatty, Biskind, and burning bridges at Some Came Running
Hang on to yourself: Beatty, Biskind, and burning bridges
Reading Peter Biskind's Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America was, for me, a largely enervating experience. Yes, I know; the book is reputed to be a feast of dish, full of jaw-dropping revelations about the putatively irresistible actor/writer/producer/director whose footprint on the culture ("...
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