The Fighter

I hate boxing movies, and for a very odd reason. It’s because they are so often so damn good. They tell compelling stories, and actors seem drawn to them and often outdo themselves when they are cast. Which means that, come Oscar time, there are frequent nominations … and I have to see the damn things! It’s not the acting, it’s not the writing, it’s not the ... Read more »

Filmworker

If you have seen Barry Lyndon (and if you haven’t and can tolerate an unusually slow pace, go see it at once!) you will remember the adult Lord Bullingdon, who engages in the climactic, stunning duel at the end. He was played by Leon Vitali, a successful stage actor with a few screen credits. Then he just left his career to become Stanley Kubrick’s assistant for ... Read more »

The Final Cut

Pretty much a total mess. People have implants which record every waking moment, then these memories are edited after death into a cleaned-up bio to show the relatives. All the nasty stuff is put aside. The memory recording is an interesting idea here and there are a thousand possibilities worth exploring, none of which the writer/director uses. The idea that this is the only use this ... Read more »

The Final Destination

Horror movies are really the perfect genre for hack writers, especially in these days of the horror movie “franchise.” Halloween I through Halloween XX (some of which haven’t even been made yet!) are all the same movie. How easy it must be to simply write the same script twenty times! You name it: A Nightmare on Elm ... Read more »

The Final Destination

Horror movies are really the perfect genre for hack writers, especially in these days of the horror movie “franchise.” Halloween I through Halloween XX (some of which haven’t even been made yet!) are all the same movie. How easy it must be to simply write the same script twenty times! You name it: A Nightmare on Elm ... Read more »

The Final Girls

Here is an interesting premise, and for once they didn’t totally screw it up. I think it could have been better … but first, here’s what we got:

Max (short for Maxine, I guess) is the daughter of Amanda, a washed-up “scream queen” from the ‘80s, who starred in one cult slasher movie, Camp Bloodbath. Mom died in a car crash three years ago, and now Max is ... Read more »

The Final Season

And at long last we come to the end of our October World Series Movie Marathon. The goddam Yankees won the goddam pennant, and then the goddam World Series, so we’re goddam glum. (Lee used to be a Yankee fan, but Steinbrenner finally got to be too much for her, especially when she heard they had built a new pigcapitalist “Yankee Stadium.”) But it’s been a fun ride, and it seems appropriate ... Read more »

Find Me Guilty

Sidney Lumet has a long and distinguished career in courtroom drama, among many other genres, going all the way back to the classic 12 Angry Men. This one is about the longest criminal trial in US history, at least up until then, and most of the dialogue is taken from actual court transcripts. Twenty defendants, 70-some charges. All mobbed up pieces of shit from ... Read more »

Finding Dory

It is rather sad what has happened to Pixar since it was gobbled up by the Disney behemoth. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Disney fan, and Pixar is by no means in the toilet. But after The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin rescued the studio from the mediocrity it had sunk into after Walt’s death, they have settled into ... Read more »