Stars and stuff on the silver screen.
Open on the set of a gay porno film. We see some hot action as the star, a mustachioed young fellow with a gold chain around his neck, throws it to a willowy blond stud. He reaches a climax and the director cuts the action, giving the two a chance …
“Greeting.” “Counter-greeting, establishment of identity of Speaker #1.” “Polite inquiry establishing identity of Speaker #2?” “Confirming statement. Expansion on answer to place setting and time.” “Response to set up reader expectations; deliberate invocation of mise-en-scene.” “Affirmation. Background information providing exposition.” “Counter-reference expanding on previously stated expository material.” “Vague invocation of …
I’ve never particularly cared for those ubiquitous lists of “Rules for Writers”. (If I did, I’d probably present this one as more or less definitive.) Luckily for me, I am not much of a writer, and no one is sniffing around this site in hopes of getting a hot tip …
“I’m bored.” “You’re…some people would kill for your role!” “I’m sorry I ever took it. It’s a curse. Same thing night after night.” “What are you, Tom Stoppard?” “It’s tedium personified. Why can’t we mix it up a bit, do something different?” “Roger, it’s Hamlet. People have certain expectations.” “I’m …
Slavery, it has been properly observed, is America’s original sin. It is our first and foremost crime, the most adjacent cause of our civil war, and the source of the racial poison that continues to choke us today. It is, if this can be said in a way that does …
Hetty Green was one of the first women to make a killing in stocks. The heir to a considerable whaling fortune, the dour and grim New England Quaker increased her net worth more than tenfold with canny investments in everything from real estate to railroads to war bonds, and when …
Even if you’d never heard of him before, you’d know from seeing Spike Jonze’s latest, Her, that he isn’t a first-time director. Visually speaking, it’s powerfully effective, verging on masterful; he manages to set up almost every shot, even relatively inconsequential place-setting ones, in the most precise manner to deliver whatever …
In 2013, the ‘death of the critic’ bell that has been sounding since the birth of the internet finally reached a fevered, Chuck-Berry-style ding-a-ling. Film critics were especially hard-hit by algorithms, aggregators, and amateurism, the so-called “Five As” referred to by badly educated but enthusiastic bloggers. Stripped of the need …
1. The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros., October 3, 1941; John Huston, dir.) 2. This Gun for Hire (Paramount, May 13, 1942; Frank Tuttle, dir.) 3. Double Indemnity (Paramount, September 6, 1944; Billy Wilder, dir.) 4. Laura (20th Century FOX, October 11, 1944; Otto Preminger, dir.) 5. Murder, My Sweet (RKO Radio …
Clifford Odets had a curious, and tragic, Hollywood career. Younger critics may know him less for his Hollywood product than for the savage parody of him assayed by the Coen Brothers in Barton Fink; there, they focused on the highfalutin young socialist-realist that he was, and not the embittered cynic he …
In defining the “perfect crime”, there is an interesting debate between criminologists. The most commonly held interpretation is that a so-called perfect crime is one where the perpetrator is never caught – where he gets away with the murder, robbery, or whatever other nefarious deed, and escapes justice entirely. A …
POSTED BY: Jess-San <jesse_popoca_401@hotmail.com>, 04:01:23 11/04/2012 [MegaPower User] SUBJECT: An Open Letter to AnimIron I’m not sure how many of you are left to read this note, but one thing I’m sure of: those who remain are those that are true to our mission statement. So it is to you, …
Rodney Ascher’s Room 237, a documentary (well, actually, a film essay, but why should we split hairs?), has recently come to Netflix Instant after a run on the festival circuit that generated a noisy buzz. Ascher’s film concerns itself with a number of convoluted, complicated, possibly brilliant and definitely insane theories …
“Victor, you didn’t invite Adam over again, darling?” “Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” “Honestly, darling, he’s just awful. We’re getting a reputation. No one will come to our dinner parties if you keep asking him over.” “But whatever is the matter? He’s well-read, a fine speaker, mannered, very …
Dear Mr. Lombardo, My apologies for contacting you so presumptuously, but I think you’ll be so excited about the program I’m proposing that you’ll forgive my having bypassed the normal channels. For years, HBO has been enjoying success with historical drama — millions of viewers have enjoyed your network’s gripping …
