Category Archives: Performers

Notes on “Ford v Ferrari”

Posted on March 18, 2020 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Ford v Ferrari” is nearly 200 minutes long, ludicrous for a car-racing flick, and its narrative incorporates a fair amount of padding. The scenes centering on the family of driver Ken Miles are particularly unnecessary. Watching … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Cluny Brown”

Posted on December 28, 2019 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The 1946 “Cluny Brown” is probably the most offhand thing director Ernst Lubitsch did during the sound era. It’s so offhand that it’s almost Buñuelian. Certainly, it’s the most surreal of Lubitsch’s late works. Jennifer Jones … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Atlantic City”

Posted on October 24, 2019 by

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 “Aquaman”

Posted on June 20, 2019 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: There’s something gleeful, almost lightfooted, in the tacky gigantism of “Aquaman.” Director James Wan rejects the would-be seriousness and most of the cynicism that characterize Marvel’s superhero films in favor of kitsch and can-do cheeriness. Like … Continue reading →

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Note to K—-, on Frank Zappa

Posted on May 13, 2019 by

Fenster writes: K—- The excellent music blog run by Jeff Meshel has a nice appreciation of Frank Zappa up, focusing on the song—if you can call it that—“Help I’m a Rock”, from the Mothers of Invention’s first album Freak Out!

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Notes on “Roma”

Posted on January 2, 2019 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In “Roma,” writer-director Alfonso Cuarón rationalizes chic aesthetic loop-the-loops by pretending to social consciousness. The movie concerns an indigenous maid who serves a white Mexican family. Though critics have compared it to Italian Neorealism, its canned … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”

Posted on January 28, 2018 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Based on the comic by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” more than makes good on the extravagant promise of its title. The principal setting is Alpha, an improbable … Continue reading →

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Our Favorite Things in 2017

Posted on December 15, 2017 by

Blowhard, Esq. writes: As you will quickly notice, we’re a grouchy, grumpy lot, all of whom are too old to keep up with new things, so this list consists of our favorite things we encountered this year whether or not … Continue reading →

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The Unpersoning of Louis C.K.

Posted on November 10, 2017 by

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Over at New York Magazine’s Vulture, progressive media critic and RogerEbert.com editor Matt Zoller Seitz proclaims that “Louis C.K. is Done”: Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, and Harvey Weinstein’s entire body of work has been retroactively contaminated by … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Rocco”

Posted on October 25, 2017 by

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In “Rocco,” sex performer Rocco Siffredi presents himself as a porno Man of Sorrows. The camera ruefully venerates him, as do the young women he “breaks” on camera. The picture opens with a languorous close-up of … Continue reading →

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