Title – The French Dispatch (2021) Director – Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket) Cast – Bill Murray, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Jeffrey Wright, Timothee Chalamet, Owen Wilson Plot – A collection of stories that form integral parts of an American newspaper set in a French city. “All great beauties withhold their deepest secrets” Review […]
Film Review – The French Dispatch (2021)
There’ve been a few attempts, over the decades, to rewrite the history of Billy Wilder’s 1964 clunker “Kiss Me, Stupid.” It’s “underrated” thanks to a winning Dean Martin as “Dino” (Dean Martin) performance, worth re-assessing because of a risque late scene Wilder was forced to edit out, somehow worthy of elevation because of its satiric […]
Classic Film Review: Billy Wilder’s “Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)” reconsidered
Paul Thomas Anderson once again returns to the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s — however, unlike his previous film set there, Boogie Nights (1997), his latest effort, Licorice Pizza, is a gentler and hazier movie that rests its heart on its sleeve in numerous ways. The year is 1973, and fifteen-year-old […]
When I first became interested in classic film, I’d stalk the forums on tcm.com in an attempt to seek out movies to watch. Anytime the subject of tearjerkers came up, it seemed like the first and most discussed movie was a film that would likely have otherwise flown under my radar: the 1941 drama “Penny Serenade,” directed […]
Holiday Classics: “Penny Serenade” (1941)
The National Board of Review just announced their picks for the best of 2021 and, while many thought they might go with West Side Story or The Power of the Dog, the NBR instead announced that their pick for Best Picture was Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza! In fact, Power of the Dog went curiously […]
The National Board of Review Names Licorice Pizza The Best of 2021
Peter Medak’s blistering neo-noir was not what I was looking for when I saw it on a late-night cinema screening at my local flea-pit back in 1993; it might have been tough and violent, but the story was also the absolute opposite of what I was hoping to see as a young man. Rather than […]
One common recurrence you see on Twitter is people being shocked to learn that Wes Anderson was born and raised in Houston, Texas. This, no doubt, is because of the very European aesthetic that he conjures in his films, while this has certainly become more pronounced with his more recent films like The Grand Budapest […]
The French Dispatch (2021), A Love-Letter to Journalism
Montana rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) is from an era where the measure of a man had little to do with character and everything to do with perceived toughness. Filled with stories from the various harrowing cattle drives he led with his brother George (Jesse Plemons), as well as those with his deceased mentor Bronco […]
I was so excited to see this, better late than never! The Plot;The film is set within the universe of a fictional 20th-century magazine, based in a beautiful make-believe French city. We meet many characters who have many stories to tell, all of which make up the sections within the next issue of The French […]
The French Dispatch: The Wes Anderson to End All Wes Andersons’
Time: 126 Minutes Age Rating: Animal cruelty & content that may disturb Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank Kirsten Dunst as Rose Gordon Jesse Plemons as George Burbank Kodi Smit-McPhee as Peter Gordon Thomasin McKenzie as Lola Genevieve Lemon as Mrs. Lewis Keith Carradine as Governor Edward Frances Conroy as Old Lady Director: Jane Campion […]
The Power of the Dog (2021) Review
Directed by Wes Anderson Written by: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson Produced by: Barry Mendel, Paul Schiff Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Bill Murray, Brian Cox, Seymour Cassel, Mason Gamble, etc. *** CONTAINS SPOILERS *** Having recently written positively about my favourite films of Wes Anderson I was spurred […]
MEMORABLE FILM CHARACTERS #6 – MAX FISCHER – RUSHMORE (1998)
A pretty popular student, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) cannot go on a date until her ill tempered sister Katarina (Julia Stiles) gets a date too, and that responsibility falls to mysterious Patrick (Heath Ledger). I had only seen Ledger in his role of William in the film Knight’s Tale, so when this film popped up on […]
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Wes Anderson is back, this time taking his unique brand of avant-garde comedy even further. There is so much to digest in his ode to great expat journalists whose work in the mid 20th century flourished in The New Yorker Magazine. Anderson has assembled a huge […]
New from Al and Linda Lerner on Movies and Shakers: The French Dispatch
Only a few filmmakers can deliver a heavy concept and an intelligent story using a humoristic approach. Whether it’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox, Isle of Dogs, or The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson has created a unique collection of films with a peculiar approach to storytelling – […]
Film Review: “The French Dispatch” (2021)
With strong performances, The Power of the Dog delivers on its promise, offering a solid narrative tale of strength, masculinity and grief.
NYFF 2021: THE POWER OF THE DOG
Photo by Pablo Larraín ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. Everyone wants to be wealthy, live in a palace and be part of a royal family. Indeed, there’s financial independence but it’s the freedom that is often lost. Because every move of the royal family members will be under scrutiny, highly publicized and photographed by […]
Nashville Film Festival 2021: “Spencer”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Life in the 21st century is more like being on the phones and laptops with no human interaction whatsoever. Even passing by restaurants, you find people staring at the blue screen more often than using words. It’s sad but becoming our reality. And things can only change if we […]
Toward the end of Noah Baumbach’s 2019 film “Marriage Story,” Charlie, played by Adam Driver, breaks into an emotional rendition of Sondheim’s “Being Alive” from the musical “Company” while at a restaurant with friends, facing the dissolution of his marriage. It’s a beautiful scene—my favorite in the entire film, actually—and one that made me immediately […]
Why are sci-fi/private detectives are such a common breed? Sure, Blade Runner and its sequel made a nice job of updating Hammett and Chandler to the 21st century but both films flopped hard on release. Their cult status, however, seems to ensure that there’s a steady stream of mob bosses presiding over augmented realities, film […]
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Who does not like watching love stories? Whether it is with a happy ending or not, it has something to warm our hearts. Remember Arthur Hiller’s “Love Story” (1970) with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal? Or “The Way We Were” (1973) with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford or the […]
Film Review: “The Last Letter from Your Lover” (2021)
