Mascots

Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (yes, that really is his name) was one of the writers of This is Spinal Tap, one of the best “mockumentaries” ever made. He also played one of the boys, Nigel Tufnel. He is one of my favorite directors but he works all too infrequently. When he does, he is the best there is at this type of movie.

America is ... Read more »

Masked and Anonymous

This is a fairly incoherent movie, and not in a fun way. No surprise, since it was co-written by the star, Bob Dylan. One critic called it a collection of lines from Chinese fortune cookies. Dylan plays Jack Fate (heavy!) a washed up singer in some sort of future place that is very dismal and Orwellian. Or maybe it’s Mexico. Whatever, it’s the sort of mean streets that Dylan himself hasn’t ... Read more »

The Master

The rumors were that this was to be a biography of that miserable charlatan, L. Ron Hubbard, and that the Scientologists were prepared to go to war over it. And brother, when those psychopaths go to war, you don’t want to get in their way. According to the producers, no one from the so-called church ever complained to them. The director, Paul Thomas Anderson, says he screened it for his ... Read more »

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

The best sea adventure movie I have ever seen. I am now reading my way through the Aubrey/Maturin novels upon which the movie is based (apparently picking scenes from half a dozen of the books for a rip-roaring adventure that may not be historically accurate but is wonderfully rousing), and they are wonderful at capturing a brutal and heroic age very different from our own.

The Matador

Pierce Brosnan is a hit man who is losing his touch, big time. Greg Kinnear is a businessman recently out of a job. They meet in Mexico City and, through a series of drunken and sober encounters, become friends. Part of it is that the hit man is undeniably charismatic and seems to be a genuinely nice guy. Part of it the sneaky fascination we all have with someone who is way out of the ... Read more »

Matchstick Men

I am a collector of movies about con games. This is one of the better ones, and Nicholas Cage is very good.

Matewan

Based on true events, as they say, but I looked into it a little and it seems reasonably accurate. There really was a gun battle between striking miners and so-called “detectives” from the Baldwin-Felts Agency in 1920. What a joke. B-F was a company that hired armed thugs to terrorize and even kill miners who wouldn’t fall into line with the coal barons. Flat-out murderers, usually backed ... Read more »

Matinee

(Second viewing) This is a real favorite of mine. It takes place in Key West, 90 miles from Cuba, during the missile crisis, when we all felt we were minutes from nuclear war. The production designer did a great job of recreating that era, which I remember vividly. A young man, a devoted fan of horror/monster/scifi movies (very much like me), is delighted to learn that the great Lawrence ... Read more »