Scout Tafoya on Martin Scorsese and “Late” Movies

Posted on November 24, 2019 at 8:00 am

My friend and fellow critic Scout Tafoya has written my favorite piece of movie criticism I’ve read in a long time. I have mixed feelings about Martin Scorsese’s new epic film, “The Irishman,” but the part I liked best is exactly what he describes here.

Fear of death and refusal of old age in movie-making are as old as the moving image itself. Movie stars date appallingly young, and directors sew bone-deep terror of mortality into their images. Film critic André Bazin famously defined the ontology of cinema according to its “mummy complex,” its embalming of time and space. And true to form, something uniquely bizarre occurs when film directors near the death at which they’ve been thumbing their nose by preserving slices of life for one and all to experience. The “late film” has become a class unto itself: what happens to your work if you know this will be one of the last times you point a camera at someone and yell, “Action!”?

It’s a pleasure to read, so wise about movies and about life.

Scorsese’s Greatest Shots

Posted on November 23, 2019 at 3:08 pm

The Ringer picks out some of Martin Scorsese’s most striking — and most influential shots.

And the Runner-Up Is: Podcast Discussion of Picnic and the Best Films of 1955

Posted on November 20, 2019 at 8:56 am

Oscar-ologist Kevin Jacobsen’s delightful “And the Runner-up Is” podcast looks back at the Academy Awards and considers which films that did not win have better stood the test of time than the ones that brought home the gold. Spoiler alert: We agreed that “Marty” is still at the top of the 1955 list, but we had a great time talking about the runner-up, Joshua Logan’s “Picnic,” starring William Holden and Kim Novak and based on the play by William Inge.

NY Times: Top Podcasts for Movie Fans

Posted on November 17, 2019 at 11:48 am

The New York Times recommends seven podcasts for movie fans, including Filmspotting (long, thoughtful, informative conversations about current releases and other films), “You Must Remember This” (Karina Longworth‘s deeply researched Hollywood history), “How Did This Get Made?” (funny guys and often silly conversations about terrible movies), Scriptnotes (insights on writing for film, including critiques of listener-submitted scenes), and I Was There Too, stories from character actors and others who were on the set.

I’d also add:

Slate’s Spoiler Specials — smart and lively discussions for AFTER you’ve seen the movie

Flashback: Dana Stevens and K. Austin Collins revisits classics like “Imitation of Life,” “The Straight Story,” and “Bride of Frankenstein.”

3rd and Fairfax: The official podcast of the Writer’s Guild West.

Cinemability: Tonight on TCM

Posted on September 23, 2019 at 6:54 am

Tonight on TCM, “Cinemability: The Art of Inclusion” tells the story of disability representation in films, followed by some classic, if not consistent with current standards, examples, including “Freaks” (“You’re one of us now!”), “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and “Johnny Belinda,” with Oscar-winner Jane Wyman as a young deaf woman.

For many years, it seemed that the most reliable way to get an Oscar was to play someone with disabilities. In addition to Wyman, actors who have won Oscars for portraying disabled or ill characters include Dustin Hoffman (“Rain Man”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot”), Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”), Geoffrey Rush (“Shine”), Al Pacino (“Scent of a Woman”), Jamie Foxx (“Ray”), Tom Hanks (“Forrest Gump”), Tom Hanks again (“Philadelphia”), Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”), Marlee Matlin (“Children of a Lesser God”), Jack Nicholson (“As Good as it Gets”), and Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”). Of those, only Matlin had the real-life disability she was portraying. Increasingly, Hollywood is being urged to cast disabled actors to play disabled characters, which will open up opportunities to talented performers and provide more meaningful authenticity to the representation we see on screen.