The Pledge (2001)
“When a good child dies, an angel comes down from heaven and takes the dead child in his arms; then the angel spreads out his wings and flies with the child to visit all the places that the little one has loved. They pick a whole armful of flowers and bring them to God; in […]
The African Queen (1951)
Rose: Could you make a torpedo? Charlie: How ‘s that, Miss? Rose: Could you make a torpedo? Charlie: A torpedo?…You don’t really know what you’re askin’. You see, there ain’t nothin’ so complicated as the inside of a torpedo. It’s got gyroscopes, compressed air chambers, compensating cylinders…. Rose (unperturbed): But all those things, those gyroscopes […]
Ermo (1994)
A TV’s just an egg. A house, now that’s a chicken. Ermo. Sounds like the latest craze at Toys’R Us. One of those weird-looking, vaguely sinister stuffed things that catch on faster than most computer viruses. Oh, the temptation. To walk into Wal-Mart, crumpled piece of paper in hand, desperate look in the eyes. Pleeeease, […]
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
“You’re dead, son. Get yourself buried.” –J.J. Hunsecker There’s a startling moment midway through Alexander Mackendrick’s 1957 film noir gem, Sweet Smell of Success, when Burt Lancaster, playing ruthless media tycoon J.J. Hunsecker, looks down from his penthouse balcony at a teeming, neon- and headlight-lit avenue in downtown New York, and the whole scene seems […]
The Magic Flute (1975)
“Somehow he [Mozart] managed to make this preposterous bit of humbug the most profound of all his operas….In the most dazzling feat of his career, Mozart turned the libretto’s creaking assemblage of claptrap, platitudes, and misogyny into a sublime fairy tale for adults.” —from Jan Swafford’s commentary on The Magic Flute in The Vintage Guide […]
Into the West (1992)
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t choose a word such as “gritty” to describe a children’s film. This is not an adjective that sits well with Disney, or with excellent films such as The Secret of Roan Innish, The Journey of Natty Gann, The Black Stallion, or The Secret Garden. Pocahontas might be appalling, revisionist history, but it’s […]
Northern Lights (1978)
“One of these days [the Powers that Be’ll] go too far and, well, you know what I’m talking about. I’m an optimist and I know the good comes out of the bad. Things are gonna change. I’m sure of it. I’ve got time. I can wait.” Henry Martinson, farmer & activist, age 94 Despite what […]
Barton Fink (1991)
GARCIN: Hm! So here we are? VALET: Yes, Mr. Garcin. GARCIN: And this is what it [Hell] looks like? VALET: Yes. GARCIN: Second Empire furniture, I observe….Well, well, I dare say one gets used to it in time. VALET: Some do. Some don’t -from J.P. Sartre’s No Exit Unlike Upton Sinclair, William Faulkner, F. Scott […]
The Grifters (1990)
Dolores protested,] “Surely, you cannot think that—” “Think it?” Toddy shook his head. “I don’t even think that you’re trying to steer me away from my one chance to find the murderer. I don’t even think that I might find myself in trouble if I picked you up on that steer—if I tried to leave. […]
King of Jazz (1930)
While I’m sure that a good number of my readers will at least have heard of Lucille Ball, that may not be the case with Paul Whiteman. He’s the “king” in the King of Jazz, a 1930 multimillion-dollar musical extravaganza that makes Kevin Costner’s Waterworld seem unambitious. It also makes even less sense. This is […]