Analysis & Commentary Rick on 31 Mar 2008
Dave Kehr reports (via Radar) that after 30 years, David Ansen (below right) is leaving Newsweek, taking a handsome buy-out offered to him by the magazine. Hard times have befallen the newsweeklies, with cost-cutting moves common. Ansen told Anne Thompson that “It was a good deal . . . They didn’t want me to leave, [...]
News Rick on 29 Mar 2008
You know him as the guy from the original Office, you love him as he hapless wannabe actor in Extras and soon, now he’s blogging on the new film he’s directing. This Side of the Truth is Ricky Gervais’ blog about the process of making his new film of the same name. It [...]
Analysis & Commentary Rick on 27 Mar 2008
I’m convinced that Asian films are where it’s at these days, and that directors like Ang Lee, Tsai Ming-Liang and Wong Kar Wai are the cutting edge of world cinema. Here in the states, unless you live in a major market, it’s hard to see some of these artists on the big screen; it’s [...]
Analysis & Commentary Rick on 25 Mar 2008
As I noted in a previous post, I think that Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti are two of the finest film actors working today. How they have avoided winning an Oscar, especially 3-times-nominated Linney, is a mystery to me (well, not exactly a mystery, given the Academy’s predilection for flashy “big acting” and box-office [...]
Analysis & Commentary Rick on 23 Mar 2008
Most folks put a lot of thought into picking their top movies. You see endless top-ten lists, especially in January, but the lists of a viewer’s least favorite flicks — although they do exist — are fewer and further between. Could it be that it’s tougher to pick the worst movies? After [...]
News Rick on 21 Mar 2008
Ever wonder what your favorite slacker comedy whiz is up to these days? I haven’t . . . but if you have, does Ted Zee at Big Screen Little Screen have a feature for you. It’s the first edition of “What Did Judd Apatow Do Today?, and it details all the hilarious antics [...]
Review Rick on 19 Mar 2008
Been watching HBO’s John Adams? You should be, if only for the magnificent performances of Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti. They give what could have been a standard revolutionary soaper weight, dignity, gravitas. As Abigail and John Adams, they are most believable as a couple who are committed to one another, despite [...]
News Rick on 17 Mar 2008
Hooray! Directorama is back! If you haven’t cottoned onto Peet Gelderblom’s comic strip yet, now would be a great time — it’s back after a brief hiatus. This week, Bergman and Hitchcock discuss the dearth — or is that the death? — of female directors. Peet says
We’re starting off with a 3-episode [...]
News Rick on 16 Mar 2008
If I had a top-ten list, near the top would be Andrei Rublev (above), the 1969 masterpiece by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Creative Review blog says this about him:
Over a 25 year period, Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky made just seven feature films and three student shorts, yet his cinematic work stands out as one [...]
Analysis & Commentary Rick on 15 Mar 2008
When I first heard who was playing Iron Man in the latest Marvel franchise-quest, my head spun around like a bad Linda Blair imitation. Quirky, twitchy, just-a-step-away-from-rehab Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, man of steel? Come on now . . . and then I saw this second trailer for the movie and I said: [...]
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