Movie Reviews
Rachel Getting Married
… but it’s not really about Rachel at all, is it? It’s about Kym, her sister. As a matter of face, everything is about Kym. No matter where she goes, no matter what else is going on, Kym will be sure to make it be about Kym. She will have some crisis, or get into an argument, or say something incredibly inappropriate, and then everyone ... Read more »
Rabbit-Proof Fence
A true story of three aboriginal sisters in 1931, torn from their family by the astonishingly racist policies of the Australian government that meant to completely breed the black blood out of the population. They were taken to a prison camp where they were to be trained as servants, all for their own good, and allowed to marry other quadroons and octoroons if they were pale enough, but ... Read more »
My Favorite Wife
Irene Dunne is washed overboard from a boat and is missing for 7 years. The story opens with Cary Grant in court having her declared dead, and marrying his new sweetheart. (Naturally, she is a bit spoiled.) And of course Irene shows up at home that very day, dressed in a sailor suit, picked up by a freighter after being marooned all those years. Her kids don’t remember her. She flies to ... Read more »
Mystic River
This movie is so far above your typical murder mystery that it would be better to invent a whole new genre to contain it. I read the book—twice. Once when it was new, as I’m a major fan of Dennis Lehane, and once again when the movie was about to be released, because of the complexity of the plot, and because I didn’t want to miss any detail, any nuance, if it was as good as I ... Read more »
My Week With Marilyn
Marilyn Monroe has always been something of a puzzle for me. I know she was beautiful, in a brassy, cheap sort of way, but I was never the least bit attracted to her. Just not my type, I guess, like Joan Crawford is not my type. She has never figured in a single one of my fantasies. It seems clear that she was a contender for Neediest Person of the Twentieth Century, and this movie gives ... Read more »
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
I guess the best I can say about this is “well-intentioned.” I could say worse, but I won’t bother. Basically, it starts out with a good idea, and then plods its way through every predictable situation a hack writer can think of, totally missing a thousand opportunities. Premise: Who says a superhero needs to be well-adjusted? What if the meteorite bestowing super powers ... Read more »
My Sister Maria
It’s hard to describe this film about the older sister of Maximilian Schell. It’s certainly not a normal documentary; it’s as far from cinema verite as you could get, each shot being carefully composed, absolutely nothing spontaneous. Maria was a very popular actress after the War, both in Germany and in the US, where she worked with Yul Brynner and Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper, among ... Read more »
My One and Only
Here we have the odd and true (mostly, I suppose) story of George Hamilton, his mother, and brother, as they make their way across the country from New York to Los Angeles, and how he accidentally stumbled into a mediocre movie career. His mother is a sort of Tennessee Williams character, not awaiting her gentleman caller but actively searching him out—object: matrimony—and always finding ... Read more »
My Man Godfrey
Making a screwball comedy a lost art, and it’s unlikely to be rediscovered. I can’t imagine a young enthusiast of the sort of in-your-face, gross, hyperactive shit we get for “comedy” most of the time these days sitting still for a movie like this, where everything is wit and dialogue, with never a pratfall nor fart joke. It’s their loss, believe me. William Powell is actually the scion of ... Read more »
My Knees Were Jumping: Rembering the Kindertransports
In 1938 a lot of Jews in Europe could see the way things were going. Some got out, many tried, but couldn’t find a country that would take them, since Germany and Austria wouldn’t let them take any money with them so they’d arrive penniless … and let’s face it, they were, well, Jews. But after kristallnacht the British agreed to ... Read more »