“During production Kubrick flinched at the book’s downer ending, asking his co-writers to come up with a last-minute reprieve for these doomed men. But Douglas was having none of it, box office be damned. The closest thing we get to catharsis is the star’s spectacular pronunciation of the word ‘degenerate’ during a final, ineffectual rant.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/24/2020
“As a collection of talking heads all nodding in admiration, haphazardly assembled with some relevant movie clips and chintzy music, this is boilerplate dead-celebrity bio-doc stuff that will make pleasant enough home viewing for those with a mild interest in the subject. In other words, exactly the kind of stuffy hagiography Pauline probably would have hated.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/21/2019
“After four flights in the Millennium Falcon, Harrison Ford has proved himself peerless when it comes to palling around with comically oversized canines that don’t actually exist, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how moved I was by his relationship with Buck. Ford does what all the special effects can’t pull off. He makes you believe the dog is real.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/19/2020
“A big part of of going to the movies is the pleasure of looking at beautiful women, but I don’t think we’re supposed to say as much in polite company these days. So it’s something of a relief when a film takes this aspect expressly as its subject, and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is indeed all about the act of looking, and what it means to be seen.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/12/2020
”Filler like this only makes it hurt all the more that the Academy long ago shuttled their Lifetime Achievement Awards off to a separate, untelevised ceremony. Maybe you would like to see pioneering cinema legends like Wes Studi, David Lynch, and Lina Wertmuller receive honorary Oscars and learn a little about their lifes’ work? Too bad.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/10/2020
Skyped in again with my dear friend Craig D. Lindsey, who was kind enough this time to introduce me as “a longtime motherfucker, everyone likes him and shit.” (Only the first part is true.) In any case, it’s shortly after the Oscars and we’re talking about the euphoria of Bong Joon Ho’s history-making wins amid an otherwise disastrous telecast. – Everything Is Cancelled, 02/10/2020
“It’s all a matter of routine, which the movie conveys with an artfully numbed sense of dread. The Assistant illustrates how entrenched power structures perpetuate themselves in an office environment, and how everybody who’s interested in sticking around for very long knows enough to mind their place and when to look the other way.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 02/07/2020
Had a slightly tipsy 2AM Mountain time chat with host Blake Howard about some highlights from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, including Eliza Hittman’s extraordinary Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Josephine Decker’s Shirley, Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson Is Dead and the regrettable fiasco of Dee Rees’ The Last Thing He Wanted. – The Take Podcast 01/31/2020
“Partially a product relaunch, this surprisingly sturdy documentary is itself a savvy business maneuver, positioning one of the biggest stars in the world as a comeback-hungry underdog while introducing us to a new Taylor 2.0 who cusses, disobeys her advisors and is unafraid to speak out about politics, women’s issues and anything else she damn well pleases.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 01/30/2020
“It’s difficult to imagine a more spectacularly depressing lineup of films. The nominees, which are of substantially higher quality (if not higher spirits) than in recent years, cover such crowd-pleasing topics as cancer, kidnapping, child rape, abortion, Alzheimer’s and animal abuse. I watched them all in a row and needed to go lie down for a little while.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 01/29/2020
SPLICED PERSONALITY 