Category Archives: Movies

Notes on Carousel/Liliom

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Eddie Pensier, a child of the opera and a co-blogger here, got me going to the Met, and I am thankful for that.  But, still, I have never been much of a fan of Broadway musicals. Music class … Continue reading →

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Notes on “The Exterminating Angels”

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The 2006 “The Exterminating Angels,” the middle part of what I take to be writer-director Jean-Claude Brisseau’s trilogy on the subject of the modern young woman, is too severe to be effective as trash and too … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Tuff Turf”

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The 1985 “Tuff Turf” is an intriguing cult item and a key entry in the James Spader canon. Spader’s Morgan moves to L.A. from Connecticut. His Angeleno friends speak of Connecticut the way a fur trader … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Summer Interlude”

Posted on November 6, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: A ballerina (Maj-Britt Nilsson), disappointed in love and aging out of dance, impulsively visits an island on which, as a teen, she spent a summer vacation. As she wanders, so does her mind; she remembers her … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Enchanted April”

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:The effectiveness of the 1991 “Enchanted April” is an upshot of its subtlety, its lightness of touch. Director Mike Newell resists making statements or following through on obvious setups. Even the screenplay’s twists seem less like engineered … Continue reading →

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Notes on “At Eternity’s Gate”

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: It’s inevitable that Julian Schnabel’s movie about Van Gogh, “At Eternity’s Gate,” will be compared to Altman’s “Vincent and Theo.” Both pictures attempt to capture the ecstatically enervated aspects of Van Gogh’s art; they’re expressionistic takes … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Atlantic City”

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Like “Nashville,” the 1980 “Atlantic City” is an essayistic treatment of a city. But it’s not brash and satirical like “Nasvhille”; it’s glancing and melancholy-romantic — a loser’s lament. It’s to director Louis Malle’s and writer … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Redoubtable”

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Redoubtable” is a demystification of Jean-Luc Godard and a dramatization of his turn to radical politics. Director Michel Hazanavicius lacks the ferocity and lightning wit of the artist he’s spoofing, but his somewhat plodding covers of … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Lifeguard”

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The 1976 “Lifeguard” plays like a major-studio version of a CIP quickie. Its pleasures are CIP pleasures: unthought-out scenes of everyday people doing everyday things set against a backdrop that’s the more titillating for its relatability, … Continue reading →

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Notes on “War and Peace”

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: I spent much of the 431-minute running time of Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1966 “War and Peace” wondering if spectacle, in and of itself, can be considered a kind of art. “War and Peace” doesn’t work as drama, … Continue reading →

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