Posted on April 16, 2017 at 8:22 am
My gallery of Easter movies includes “Ben Hur,” several different movie versions of the life of Jesus, a couple of choices just for kids, and a classic musical named for a classic song, Irving Berlin’s “Easter Parade.” There’s something for every family celebrating this weekend.
Posted on April 4, 2017 at 3:37 pm
The remake of “Going in Style,” like the original, is about a trio of retired men who rob a bank, with all three characters played by acting legends. This version stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin, all Oscar-winners with decades of brilliant performances. And the co-star is one of my all-time favorites, Ann-Margret.
Morgan Freeman: Best remembered as Red in “The Shawshank Redemption,” Hoke in “Driving Miss Daisy,” and God in the “Bruce Almighty” and “Evan Almighty,” and the deep, rich-voiced narrator of films like “March of the Penguins,” Freeman won an Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby.”
Michael Caine: His breakthrough role was in 1966 as the ladies’ man title character in “Alfie,” and he has delivered iconic performances in everything from period drama (“The Man Who Would be King”) to literary adaptations (an Oscar-winning performance in “The Cider House Rules”) to Alfred in the Batman movies. His distinctive voice and Cockney accent have inspired many imitators.
Alan Arkin: He won an Oscar for playing a raunchy, drug-addicted grandfather in “Little Miss Sunshine,” and his other great performances include a confused Soviet submarine captain in “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!,” an isolated deaf man in “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” and a cynical Hollywood executive in “Argo.”
Ann-Margret: Her most iconic roles showcased her fiery hair, creamy skin, flashing turquoise eyes, gorgeous figure, seductive purr, and the unmatched energy and flair of her dancing, but she showed her ability with dramatic roles in “Carnal Knowledge” and the television film “Who Will Love My Children?”
Posted on March 29, 2017 at 7:47 pm
As part of rogerebert.com’s annual Women’s Week, three critics got together to pay tribute to one of their favorite films, the ice skating classic, Ice Castles.
Christy Lemire, Sheila O’Malley, and Susan Wloszczyna shared their memories of first seeing the film and acknowledged that despite its cheesiness and some uncomfortable elements, they can’t help loving it.
Released in 1978, it has disco-era signposts aplenty: Melissa Manchester’s unbridled rendition of Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager’s magical Oscar-nominated theme song, “Through the Eyes of Love,” then-It Boy Robby Benson as the hockey hotshot romantic interest and Dorothy Hamill-inspired wedge haircuts galore….
CHRISTY LEMIRE: “Ice Castles” has a really great, gritty sense of place that also keeps it from being teenage nonsense. That town feels so real and so insular. Are there actual bowling alley/ice rink combos in the world?
SHEILA O’MALLEY: I was going to mention that! I totally agree. She really comes from somewhere. It’s very real. The snow, the bowling alley, the frozen pond. A boyfriend who plays hockey. I really hope there are such combos. I’d love to visit. Especially if Colleen Dewhurst is running the show, sipping whiskey from a flask.
CHRISTY LEMIRE: She gives this film so much weight, so much emotional heft.
SHEILA O’MALLEY: She is acting her ASS off, if you’ll pardon the expression. She’s ferocious and filled with emotion and personal regrets and smoking butts and sneaking sips of whiskey at the hockey game. She’s awesome.
Posted on March 18, 2017 at 8:00 am
I don’t know why “What a Way to Go!” is not considered a classic. It is smart, colorful, and very funny, written by the people behind “Bells are Ringing” and with a once-in-a-lifetime all-star cast: Shirley MacLaine, Dick van Dyke, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Paul Newman, and Robert Mitchum. Which one of those stars does she get romantically involved with? All of them! This is a movie about a woman who just wants a simple, happy life, but who accidentally keeps marrying men who become hugely successful. Each marriage is portrayed in a different movie style. Husband number one is hometown boy Dick van Dyke (seen as a silent movie farce), followed by American in Paris Paul Newman (arty French film), industrialist Robert Mitchum (opulent, big-budget glamorous Hollywood romance), and small-town song-and-dance man Gene Kelly (big Hollywood musical). The costumes by Edith Head are wildly over the top.
Posted on March 17, 2017 at 3:26 pm
This week’s big release is Disney’s live action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. The animated Disney version is a classic, but there are some other versions worth watching as well. The classic fairy tale characters have been played by:
Lea Seydoux and Vincent Cassel (French version)
Rebecca de Mornay and John Savage starred in the version from the wonderful Fairytale Theatre series.
Jane March and William Gregory Lee (Viking setting)
Josette Day and Jean Marais in “La Belle et La Bete,” an exquisite French version from Jean Cocteau.
And check out my interview with the wonderful Paige O’Hara, the Broadway star who provided the voice of Belle in the Disney animated version.
