Norman Jewison: Movies as Melting Pots
Sean MurphyBoy has America gotten a lot of mileage congratulating itself for being a big, diverse, inclusive land of opportunity. The American Dream as melting pot, wherein our differences don't define…
Scorsese’s Stations of the Cross: ‘Mean Streets’ at 50
"Don't you have something you really want to do?" Eternal props to John Cassavetes, mentor not only to Martin Scorsese, but innumerable other apprentices who carried his torch and elevated…
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Repose en Paix
Original photography by Jack Robinson. www.robinsonarchive.com Talk about a legend from the old school. Jean-Louis Trintignant was already a big screen hall of famer before I even knew about him,…
William Hurt: The Complete Package
Sexy. Cerebral. Inscrutable. William Hurt, in part because he was perfect and in part because he remained impossible to pin down, was the thinking cinema fan’s god, always easy on…
RIP Ronnie Spector, and a Celebration of Sound & Vision
Ronnie Spector in the CBS Records studio in Soho Square. Ronnie is in London to promote her new single 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood', London, circa 1977. (Photo by Tom Sheehan/Sony…
Goodfellas at 30: The Most Definitive American Movie of the Last Three Decades
First, a confession. I did not love Goodfellas the first time I saw it (in the theater, shortly after it opened, in October, 1990). Then again, this seems to happen with certain…
1455 RECOMMENDS: YOUR REQUIRED COVID-19 VIEWING (PART TWO)
Following up on our first installment of required viewing, here’s the promised list of movies (some quite appropriate and relevant) to accompany social distancing, working from home, reading, relaxing, and…
I Like To (Re)Watch or, The Movies on My Mind
Celebrating one of my favorite movies, Serpico, I wrote the following: I want—and need—to revisit this movie on an annual basis, because it satisfies many needs. One, it's a masterpiece, so there's…
Chinatown (from Popmatters.com Cinema Qua Non)
Chinatown Director: Roman Polanski 1974 Chinatown does not usually make the short list of best American films. In fairness, it probably shouldn’t. It will have to settle for merely being…