Posted on November 5, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Time always flies when I visit the Nick DiGilio show on WGN in Chicago. We talked about “Flight,” “Fun Size,” “Skyfall,” Cloud Atlas,” and lots more. Thanks a million for having me on.
Posted on February 25, 2012 at 8:00 am
Many thanks to Paulzeye for the opportunity to answer very thoughtful questions about being a movie critic. I was very touched by his kind words:
Whether Minow’s busy being a mom or busy being the Movie Mom, one thing is certain: she encompasses all the qualities and virtues of the hard-working 21st Century woman. And her commentary is a reflection of her own persona: honest, sharp, to the point, and always very insightful.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
Paulzeye: As a critic, you’ve seen a fair share of good films and bad films. How would you define a masterful or good film? How would you define a bad film?
Paulzeye: What are five films, new or old, that should be on every family’s ‘must-see’ list and why?
Paulzeye: People tend to think that being a film critic is an easy profession but surely it must be difficult to spend hours in a multiplex watching several films back to back and then reviewing them. Talk to us about that process. What’s a day at the movies like for you?
Nell Minow: Most days, I see only one or two movies. The independent and foreign films are most often in a little screening room at the Motion Picture Association building across Lafayette Square from the White House during the day and the big studio films are in the evening, in movie theatres with a couple of rows reserved for critics and the rest filled with people who won tickets on radio stations or other giveaways. I really enjoy the other local critics, who have become friends and colleagues. They make even the worst movies fun to watch.
Paulzeye: As a critic, what do you feel more comfortable writing about: a film that you absolutely loved or one that you absolutely loathed?
Nell Minow: Both are fine because they both inspire a lot of thoughts. The toughest ones are the bland and mediocre movies, because it is so hard to think of anything to say or any vivid way to say it.
Paulzeye: You’ve interviewed several important figures (politicians, actors, and directors) over the years. What are some of your most memorable interviews and why?
Nell Minow: I especially like talking to writers and directors, who are not interviewed as often as actors and who are more interested in talking. Some of the most memorable include John Irving, Jason Reitman, Randall Wallace, Mike Mills, and John Cameron Mitchell. One of my favorite recent interviews was with Martin Sheen for “The Way.” He is an enthralling raconteur and I could have listened to him all day. I was also very impressed at how kind he was to the staff in the hotel, introducing himself to everyone and really listening to them. Another actor I won’t name infuriated me by being very rude to the waitress and maître d’.
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 10:59 am
Beliefnet has a great gallery on the subject of holiday greetings, from inclusive to religious, and I am proud to be included.
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 8:00 am
Thanks for these great questions!
I saw the trailer for a movie but I forgot what it was called. There’s a girl who goes to seek out all her exes to see if any of them are still single and if anything has changed with them. Her neighbor accompanies her on her search for these ex boyfriends. She discovers that a lot of them are better off without her. If you know what this movie is called I’d really appreciate it.
That’s “What’s Your Number?” with Anna Faris. It opens in late September.
This movie is set around in the 60s. Rich white family with a young daughter hires a housekeeper who is black with a daughter the same age. The two girls grow up together and are very close. The dark girl hates being dark skinned and blames her mother and rebels as she gets older and runs away. Her mother tracks her down years later as the mother is dying. She finds her daughter working in a strip club & the daughter denies knowing her around people, she tells the daughter she is dying. The daughter tells her she hates her and to never come around again. The mother goes back home where she’s still living with the white family and not long after she dies. The daughter comes half-way through her mother’s funeral chasing the hearse down the road terribly sorry screaming for her mum.
That’s a classic: Imitation of Life
There is a movie I watched partly a few years back and I don’t know its name or any of the cast or crew. All I know is that there were two ladies I think they were on a train. One of them, I think recently widowed, is off to meet her husband’s family for the first time. The other is poor and pregnant I think. There was an incident not sure what but it left the widowed woman dead and the other I think unconscious. Their identity somehow got switched in the process. Thus the poor pregnant woman was taken to meet the family (in-laws) of the one that died and she tried to fit in.
That is “Mrs. Winterbourne” with Ricki Lake and Brendan Fraser, a remake of “No Man of Her Own” with Barbara Stanwyck. Enjoy!
I remember watching a movie – racing cars – and in the movie was an Olds 442 and a Dodge Challenger. Then one guy ended up getting an old Willy’s and dropping a hemi into it for racing. It was on television. I just don’t know the name and would like to try and watch it again.
That’s Vanishing Point
It is a comedy that is set in the Renaissance to the Robin Hood time period/theme. The only part I really remember about it is that there is two brothers that feel exactly what the other is going through…for example if one gets hurt the other feels it, if one has to pee the other goes for him. Its not Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
That’s Cheech and Chong’s version of “The Corsican Brothers.”
A general description of the storyline: a young man runs away from home; he is lying on a park bench, when a large head with a white beard appears. The young man holds onto the beard, and is brought to a fantasyland. He’s given a cloak of invisibility, and a sword that can cut through stone. He is to use the sword to penetrate the stone around the heart of the villain.
That’s “The Land of Faraway.” It is sometimes called “Mio in the Land of Faraway.” Enjoy!
What’s the name of the movie with a young African-American woman who was really successful in New York, but had a heart attack and was told to take some time out off work and go somewhere different? She thought carefully and decided to go live with her foster mother in a small town, where she was with her other son and they both fell in love. At the end of the movie the guy goes looking for her in New York, but she decided she should relocate to the small town to be with him?
That’s the BET movie “Commitments” with Victoria Dillard. It’s a good one!
I was wondering, if you could assist me by providing the name of a certain movie. The title has slipped my mind, but I recall exactly what it was about. The story (which I’m not 100% sure but I think it’s based on a true story…) is about a girl who is hit by a vehicle and can no longer move. She is somewhat paralyzed… but, she is extremely smart and her mother decides to go to school with her so she is able to assist her daughter. The young lady ends up going to Harvard (or some other well known college…) and her mother goes along with her. She meets a guy there and falls in love with him, but in the end, he is engaged to another lady.
That is “The Brooke Ellison Story.”
I remember this movie, probably made for TV, in the mid 70s, maybe 80s…A lot of turmoil in the country, and the youth of the country took over. Lowered the voting age, and all the ages for holding offices. The part I remember from the commercials and the movie was of this boy, acting almost possessed, and the line, “GIVE ME THE POWER…” delivered as if he was almost going into a trance…do you know the name of this movie?
That’s Wild in the Streets
Recently I’ve been having flashbacks about a movie I once watched when I was little, about a little girl who has an imaginary friend ( I think he dresses in all green, like a leprechaun) and he’s very annoying, makes her steal and break things (which she gets blamed and punished for) so she locks him away (in a jewelry box, I think) but later starts missing him… and then there seems to be a big chunk of the movie missing from my memory but all I remember is that the girl forgets about him over the years and the imaginary friend re-appears but this time the girl’s grown up (in her 20’s) so he has to leave her which makes her very sad. In the end that imaginary character moves on to being another little girl’s imaginary friend and the movie ends shortly after.
That’s Drop Dead Fred
I remember watching a movie at least ten to fifteen years ago, perhaps even longer than that where a young professional male dancer loses his usual dance partner and has to find another. He ends up with a geeky girl with glasses, frizzy hair tied back in a ponytail who doesn’t look like she can do much dancing. When she shows him her style he is shocked to see she can dance and she has a special style that he learns from her. She loses the glasses does her hair and starts looking prettier until she goes from ugly duckling to swan and a romance between them forms. There’s a scene where he visits her family who I think are either Latina or Mexican where her dance style originates. I can’t for the life of me remember what it is called and I’ve looked around. It’s an American film and my guess is it could be anywhere between 1980 to 2005 though I’m guessing it’s more likely to be in the 90’s. That was when I watched it so it may be older than that but not by much.
I love that movie! It’s Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom
I want to know the name of a movie about a guy who realizes that he is actually a character in a book and is about to be killed. He wants to find the author to get him to not kill him. It starts out with a narrator who describes the life of this guy, whose life is very regimented, what time he gets up, how long he brushes his teeth, goes to work and so on. I know I saw it quite some time ago, and I can’t remember the name of the movie or the star…
One of my favorites! That’s Stranger Than Fiction
About 15 or more years ago I saw a movie that I thought was called “Bug”. It was about these beetle like bugs that came out of a earthquake. They were able to produce electric and in one scene I remember spelled words on the wall with their bodies. I think it was a “B” flick but I would love to see it again. If you could also let me know if I could purchase it somewhere.
That’s Bug
This is a old movie about children that passed through this fog or smoke would act really strange and would try to get adults to hug them. If you hugged them it was like they drained all your life from you and of course you died.
That is The Children of Ravensbeck
Synopsis; a computer expert has to save his girlfriend from a serial killer 8 – 12 hours in the future. His only help is his computer, now strapped to his wrist “Excalibur 8.” I believe Richard Moll is in the movie and plays the role of “the grim reaper” type who took him and put him in this predicament! Please, I hope you can help!
Yep, that’s Dungeonmaster
This movie is about a young couple who I think give up a son, the son becomes a great piano player I think. The parents through fate find their son years later.
That lovely film is August Rush
