Billy Wilder’s Cold War satire was ahead of its time. Is that why it got the cold shoulder?
‘One, Two, Three’ is one of the director's fizziest comedies
‘One, Two, Three’ is one of the director's fizziest comedies
Tony nominees Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman share a demo of a cut song and chat about their inspirations and initial fears about taking on the classic comedy
Assembling this week’s movie news, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the upcoming Royal Wedding. True fanatics might pay homage to “The Royal Wedding,” the 1951 musical comedy starring Fred Astaire as an American dancer who visits London during Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s nuptials. However, it’s 2018, so I’ll instead point your attention…
Picture if you will the screenwriter: hunched over a keyboard, mainlining caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or all of the above, exploited by a stupid and greedy industry, but rebelliously, vainly proud. And very often, Jewish. Vulture has paid homage to the humble screenwriter, compiling a grand, ranked list of the 100 Best Screenwriters of All Time….
An elaborately constructed caper set in a fairy-tale Europe on the eve of World War II, Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is many things: a wild tumble through another of the director’s painstakingly designed imaginary worlds; a gleefully overstuffed ensemble piece with an all-star cast; and a near-perfect combination of sophistication and silliness. It…
Now that she has her Aleph, Natalie Portman is returning to an activity that’s always been a safe bet. (Groan if you must; we couldn’t resist a little spelling pun for you Hebrew readers out there.) The Oscar-winning “Black Swan” star is getting back to acting — of a sort, anyway. Portman, 30, made one…
“Weimar Cinema, 1919–1933: Daydreams and Nightmares,” running at MoMA until March 7, 2011, is billed as the largest-ever retrospective of German cinema from between the Wars to be shown in the United States. The era’s defining cinematic style, expressionism, is well-represented in dozens of offerings, giving a healthy dose of the atmospheric, disturbing and downright…
Comedy, explained Aristotle, has a vague history, because at first no one took it seriously. We cannot know for certain if Aristotle was deadpanning, but his observation would amuse Saul Austerlitz. According to Austerlitz, American film comedy has not been taken seriously, either. In fact, the author quips, it is American film’s “bastard stepchild.” With…
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