Film
TNR Film Classics: ‘Lolita’ (October 5, 1998)
Hollywood and politics have been going together for a long time. Kevin Brownlow showed in Behind the Mask of Innocence that political comment in American films began much earlier than is generally thought. But Hollywood figures as political activists themselves— that phenomenon began, I'd guess, in the 1930s. READ MORE >>
A Visit, A Voyage
As if Emma Thompson weren't enough of a gift from heaven, now we have her mother, too, Phyllida Law. And the two of them in the same film, playing daughter and mother! Law is a highly experienced actress in British theater and TV and film, but The Winter Guest (Fine Line) is the first time she has had a prominent role in a picture seen here, and it's certainly our first chance to see her play her daughter's mother. READ MORE >>
TNR Film Classics: ‘Titanic’ (January 5 & 12, 1998)
Surely someone has counted all the books and films about the Titanic, and I'm glad I don't know the result. A Broadway musical about it is now running. And here is the latest film. Titanic (Paramount-20th Century Fox), reportedly the most expensive picture ever made. READ MORE >>
Antonioni: Some Notes
The Odd Couple
Holidays and Other Troubles
Showgirls (United Artists) is a backstage story with many bare breasts, some pubic hair, some comments on menstruation and some simulated sex. Some of the latter is even meant to be simulated--lap dancing. READ MORE >>
I. READ MORE >>
Shooting Up
By now everybody knows that Quentin Tarantino is the happiest man in the world. Not so many years ago he was a clerk in a California video store, devouring film film film. Then he tried to break into filmmaking himself, first by writing scripts. It took years to get in. But those video days and the buff-dom of his boyhood sustained him, and now he is where he dreamed of being. He is making the films that will stock those video stores. Some younger aspirant will sell Tarantino tapes. READ MORE >>
Sadnesses
What America does not need is another instance of the way that our film world chews up talent, especially acting talent. But the troublesome news is that Meryl Streep is giving us another such instance. READ MORE >>
