In the documentary film “A Decade Under the Influence,” Robert Altman remarks, “I’m not interested in stories.” Presumably, he meant he is more interested in characters and their relationships than in plot or story line. This is evident in all…
“West Side Story” won everything in sight when it was released in 1961, including Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins), Best Supporting Actor (George Chakiris), Best Supporting Actress (Rita Moreno), Best Cinematography, Best Costumes,…
There are probably better things a person could do with his time than spend it watching the boorish comedy, “Sordid Lives.” You could, for instance, sit cross-legged in the middle of your living room and wait for a spider to…
Orson Welles is said to have remarked that no great film was ever made in color. Hyperbole or no, “To Kill a Mockingbird” surely makes Welles’s case. Although the movie does not quite measure up to the rich tapestry created…
“My Fair Lady” is one of the best and most popular stage musicals of all time. It has what so many more-recent musicals do not have–an intelligent script, great acting, clever dialogue, and an endless stream of memorable tunes. While…
According to the biography at his Web site (www.philipkdick.com), between 1952 and 1982 when he died, science-fiction author Philip K. Dick wrote thirty-six novels and five collections of short stories. Ironically, after struggling in relative obscurity for much of that…
“Kate & Leopold” comes this close (image of two fingers being held as closely together as possible without actually touching), this close, to getting an unqualified recommendation. It’s quite good, but it takes very nearly the whole first half of…
When “The Parent Trap” came out in 1961, I was in high school. It starred Haley Mills and was distinctly a “girl’s movie.” I avoided it like a pubescent plague. Indeed, I continued avoiding it for over forty years until…
What were Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie thinking of when they made this picture? There seems to be no other purpose for 2001’s “Original Sin” than to show as much of the two stars’ flesh as possible. Now, admittedly, Mr.…
Fans of the original “Star Trek” TV series will be happy eventually to own any or all of their favorite shows on DVD. Paramount is issuing two episodes per volume, forty or more volumes in all, over the next few…