Gender Bender
Hulu’s High Fidelity for a new generation casts the lead as a woman
Adapted from the Nick Hornby book of the same name, High Fidelity found success as a film 20 years ago featuring John Cusack as Rob, … Continue reading
Film: Page 9
Ordinary Living
Phoenix, Oregon explores the unremarkable side of life
At first I didn’t understand the people on Twitter who were marveling about watching TV. They said it was weird, watching all these people touching. … Continue reading
The Weight
Robbie Robertson tells his story of The Band in Once Were Brothers
My vote for greatest American rock band of all time tends to hop back and forth. Most of the time, I cast the ballot for … Continue reading
Hotel Massachusetts
A bereaved family takes the winter trip to hell in The Lodge
Odd, offhanded things people say can stick in your head forever, and there’s no real accounting for why. Years ago, while we were both working … Continue reading
Sex, Death and Guinea Pigs
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s brilliant stage performance of Fleabag gets a limited run at Broadway Metro
You might think you know Phoebe Waller-Bridge. You might, like me, even think you love her a bit, a consequence of being seduced, and then … Continue reading
Ski Free
Downhill isn’t the best debut of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell duo, but we hope it’s not the last collaboration
With a résumé like Old School, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers and Anchor Man, Will Ferrell owned comedy during the 2000s. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus is hot … Continue reading
Lightening Up Superheroes
Birds of Prey tweaks patriarchy with style and humor
Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), last seen in Suicide Squad, is having a rotten day. She and the Joker split up, which makes it open season … Continue reading
Space Rock
Nicolas Cage confronts cosmic evil in the sci-fi/horror thriller Color Out of Space
The following anecdote may or may not be totally accurate — I suspect it is, the source is reliable — but it doesn’t matter because … Continue reading
Imitation of Christ
One man risks everything to resist evil in Terrence Malick’s masterful A Hidden Life
Every time I watch a movie by the great American director Terrence Malick, I come to the same conclusion: There is every other filmmaker, and … Continue reading
Cease Fire, Please
Haven’t we endured enough hyperglorious war movies by now?
Had Steven Spielberg simply cut the first and last 15 minutes from Saving Private Ryan — all that sentimentalized, emotion-yanking sacrificial nationalistic hoopla — he … Continue reading