Tag: cinephile
Why Shyamalan’s The Visit is less than the sum of its parts
You want to know the problem with writing? Everything gets written down. In ink. Posted to websites where it will never go away. And so, occasionally something like this happens. A few weeks ago, I posted a review of the new Jesse Eisenberg movie American Ultra. It was a very positive review for a movie…
Opera Onscreen: How to Resurrect a Dying Genre
Given the fact that Placido Domingo instinctively ruffled his fingers through my hair 30 years ago as I—then a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus—marched by him on stage during a production of Carmen, I can’t help but admit a personal bias toward the legendary singer … which includes admiration for his efforts in…
A Cinematic Understanding of Adolescent Female Sexuality
Thank heaven for little girls! For little girls get bigger every day! Thank heaven for little girls! They grow up in the most delightful way. (Alan Jay Lerner) It all seemed so innocent back in 1958. Alan Jay Lerner wrote it and Maurice Chevalier sang it and Gigi won the Best Picture Oscar. But America’s awkward embrace of growing…
The Reboot Fallacy: Why Every Film is a Remake
We forget, within a modern societal structure, that the propagation of culture is often achieved through re-enactment or retelling. When oral tradition was the dominant social form, prior to the written word, the most famous, most important and the most socially relevant stories or mythologies were the ones being retold at festivals, around campfires and…
For Young and Old: The Greatest Living Directors Sorted by Age
I recently wrote a piece choosing the four most significant directors from each of eleven countries. I referred to the lists as Mount Rushmores. (You can read it here, if so interested). The response I got, with dozens of fans telling me just how wrong I was, has inspired me to do it again. This…