Nobody Knows Hollywood

“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill Winston Churchill is a massive historical figure. Gary Oldman commands that looming figure and brings his brooding, powerful and surprisingly insecure character to the screen in a solid, but not spectacular, biopic. The moments all around Churchill are closing in. Hitler and the Nazis are on their way. France has folded. Norway and Belgium too. It appears England is just the next domino in line. So the argument begins - is it better to live in relative peace under the terms of a dictator or quite possibly die fighting for freedom? As the newly appointed Prime Minister, Churchill is resolute in the idea that peace talks are absolutely off the table. Lord Halifax and recently demoted Neville Chamberlain work furiously behind the scenes to keep the opportunity for peace talks alive. Director Joe Wright does a very nice job of keeping the tension and peril in place. As...

Slow, sensual and hypnotic, Call me by your name is a stunningly different looking and feeling film than I have seen in a long time. Director Luca Guadagnino is achingly patient, demanding the same of the audience. The setting in Northern Italy should be enough to keep most intrigued. The hints of the romance in this coming of age tale are hinted at, then dismissed. They seem to be blocked off, only to come rushing forward then pour out all over the screen. The film is lush, dangerous, and passionate - but, perhaps, above all: beautifully human. Oliver (Armie Hammer) is a doctoral research exchange student studying abroad with an archaeology professor, (Michael Stuhlbarg). Elio (Timothee Chalamet) is a 17-year old son who is bored, facing the prospect of an aimless summer of reading and wondering what is next. He is shy, introverted and unable to move forward sexually with a young lady he cares for - even going so far as to share that with his father and Oliver, who encourage ...

With wit, frankness and in your face, fuck-you-if-you-don’t-like-it, style, “I, Tonya” soars like one of  Harding’s signature triple axels. Margot Robbie slides into this role so deeply you can somehow forget  the stunning beauty she is and concentrate on the amazing actor she has become. This isn’t to dismiss her work in Wolf of Wall Street, Focus or Suicide Squad, but none of those roles  gave her the opportunity or space to show the tremendous depth in character she does in this film. Right out of the gate, the film tells you it’s irony free, and based on wildly contradictory and yet totally  true interviews. This brings up a great theme that plays throughout and is very timely for a subject that  happened over 20 years ago: What is a fact? And how does media portrayal of a thing (and the  amount of it) change that fact? Since this story broke in the early 1990’s, right as the 24 hour news cycle was ramping up and the  tabloids...

This film is a fascinating look into the world of the bizarre, real life character, Tommy Wiseau, with layers played deep, wide and masterfully by James Franco. James Franco is nominated for Best Actor and should be up for an Oscar, too. Full disclosure – this film hits a bit close to home for me as I had a film, also made in L.A. in the late 90’s, with a few “difficult” people, which didn’t turn out the way I hoped. As I said to a good friend (who co-starred with me), I don’t think we made “The Room” with our film…but maybe we should have. There’s something to be said for being so bad it’s good. The middle is where the bulk of art sits and, eventually, suffers the cruelest death of all: anonymity. The real life Tommy Wiseau was not about to let that happen. His drive to make what he was sure was a great film, and his courage to stand up when it was clear it wasn’t, and continue to push it into a “cult classic” is admirable at least. When James Franco is good, he’s o...

Over forty years of its own film history is crammed into this latest offering of Star Wars and, put simply, The Last Jedi delivers the goods. Generally, the further out a story goes, the more difficult it can be to balance bringing in new fans to the fold and keep the original ones engaged. In The Last Jedi, the stakes are set up early: the First Order has the universe almost entirely within its grasp. Snoke is in control, the rebels are on the run and Kylo Ren is humiliated, but remains determined to claim the place his Grandfather Darth once did. A bit of fun gamesmanship allows the Rebels to both point out the Last Order’s weaknesses (arrogance and unwieldy largeness, mostly), against all its obvious advantages (firepower, hardware, manpower, etc.), and continue the fight. Oscar Isaac shines as the wise-cracking gunslinger/fighter pilot, Poe. After the initial fight, the film takes a nice turn, reminiscent of my favorite film in the franchise, The Empire...

Home Alone Rewatching this film with kids who are now of an age to enjoy and equally fantasize with Kevin is awesome. One of the things that really makes this film cook is how painfully real the family angst is in the opening scene leading up to Kevin being left behind. Those arguments, those awful things said in heated moments are real, shameful and wonderfully human. They add depth and reality to a film that is could be misunderstood by its marketing to just be a cutesy holiday film. Credit John Hughes there – that man bled beautiful and often painful reality onto the screen with perfectly timed comedy to diffuse the darkness. The fantasy that follows the opening mishap can be defined by the classic morality line of “be careful what you ask for”. It’s played to great effect by the entire cast. What Hughes gets out of Macauly Culkin defined childhood for almost an entire generation. The film isn’t without its speed bumps. The father (John Heard) is a bit too quick to give...