Film
2.29.16 Oscars fallout: A Win Win for Spotlight director Tom McCarthy, who knows the power of giving two Fs
He couldn’t take those words out. And the MPAA said fine, you keep both uses of those words in and you’re getting an R. And he would not back down — it just wasn’t going to happen.
Read More2.10.16 Writer’s Cut: ‘Narnia is still behind the wardrobe’
I’m a homebird. I’m the homebird who fantasizes about an RV in Patagonia, but really I just want to be in Dublin.
Read More12.17.15 ‘The Seuss use was certainly on point’
Here’s a sentence you don’t get to use much: Keira Knightley was my warm up act today.
Read More12.2.15 Writer’s Cut: ‘I call it Going Meryl on them’
One of the questions I get asked a lot as an entertainment reporter is “who was your most interesting interview?” Invariably the answer is going to be disappointing: People who ask that question want me to tell them how fabulous Brad Pitt is in person (never met him) or what a fun time I had…
Read More10.17.15 ‘What do you think is so bad about ‘girl’?
This is a request for reevaluation of the use of the word “girl” for human beings who are clearly “women.”
Read More9.25.15 ‘I am afraid I must step aside’
Eddie Redmayne remains a baffling Oscar superstar, and what it’s like to have a lead-lined pillow whomp you upside the head on a Friday afternoon.
Read MoreRemake, remodel: “Mad Max: Fury Road” and the delicious taste of a reboot done right
When I go to the grocery story for ice cream, I know exactly what flavor I want. Maybe I’m flexible on who’s making the flavor but in general, give me what I know I already like. Ice cream makers aren’t the only ones in on this truism; advertisers are well aware that once consumers find…
Read More10 scripts, 2 Oscars: Which writers will take home the best screenplay awards?
The writer on a movie set is a second-class citizen, a vestigial remnant that might once have served a purpose but who, once filming has begun, can only get in the way. Once a script leaves the hands of its screenwriter, unless said screenwriter is also directing, they’re less useful than an appendix. Nobody wants…
Read MoreImitation of Life: Why Hollywood doesn’t tell stories of female pioneers
At some point while watching the “Imitation Game,” probably when Benedict Cumberbatch was not actually on the screen, it occurred to me: Joan Clarke deserves a movie of her own.
Read MoreIt’s a Terrifying, Asphyxiating, Not-So-Wonderful Life After All
“It’s a Wonderful Life” aired again on TV recently, as it does pretty much every year around Christmastime. And whether you’ve actually watched it or not (and I do recommend you give it a chance), you probably know the story of George Bailey, whose life is upended one Christmas Eve when a big deposit from…
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