Also: Red-Headed Woman, History Is Made at Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, Scarlet Street, A Foreign Affair, No Way Out (1950), The Tall Target, The Narrow Margin (1952), Odds Against Tomorrow. And isn't Blue Velvet overdue?
Generational myopia strikes the Library of Congress. Many of their 2026 selections are fine, but here are some older films that are NOT in the National Film Registry: Out of the Inkwell,
Our Hospitality, The Kid Brother, Island of Lost Souls, Design for Living, Easy Living, The Killing...
I don’t remember his handshake, but I’ll always remember him giving me an extra hour on our first session.
He probably had himself ‘shot,’ knowing him. Always projecting.
Thanks, Ben!
An extraordinary essay. So honored to be included.
I have a new piece up @thenation.com on Billy Wilder, the Holocaust, survivor's guilt, and confronting the limits of Zionism. www.thenation.com/article/cult...
I’ve always been aware of Artur Rubinstein’s renown as a great pianist, but holy moly, his performance in Edgar G. Ulmer’s Carnegie Hall (1947) is incredible.
On the AFI tribute to Francis Ford Coppola, everyone pronounces his name as Cope-pola. Except for Martin Scorsese, who says ‘Copp-ola.’ Who’s correct?
I strongly suspect those rude RSV commercials (the ones where happy old folks are cut off mid-sentence) were created by some smug, sadistic Millennial a-hole. Your day will come, bud.
Movie discovery of the week: Madame X (1937) on TCM, with a rare lead performance by the great Gladys George. She knocks it out of the park.
It’s so crazy that when I interviewed director Mira Nair in 1992, her infant son—Zohran Mamdani—was in the room.
Classified information? What classified information? The Trump gang is being especially Orwellian today.
The time has come to revisit classics I saw in my early 20s that have faded from memory. So glad I returned to the wonderful Closely Watched Trains, from 1966. It’s part of The Criterion Channel’s Czech New Wave collection.
First-time watch: Patterns, the excellent film version of Rod Serling’s 1955 teleplay about business ethics. Don’t tell me it’s not just as relevant 70 years later.
Pass it on.
#StandWithUkraine
Trump and Vance don’t deserve to lick Zelenskyy’s muddy boots.
Even more relevant now than when I bought this t-shirt.
You really can just email Elon Musk at hr@opm.gov
Discovery of the day: Archie Mayo’s Black Legion (1937), part of TCM’s ‘How to Fight Nazis’ series and eerily relevant.
Personal movie discovery of the week: The Flame of New Orleans, a delightful Marlene Dietrich comedy directed by Rene Clair, on Criterion Channel.
Movies are my balm for the dreaded year ahead. In the first 48 hours of 2025 we watched The Bitter Tears of General Yen, Rain, Three Strangers, Mildred Pierce (and the Carol Burnett parody, Mildred Fierce), Captain Fantastic, Grey Gardens (2009), and RoboCop (1987).
Has anyone else noticed how many guests on TV news programs begin their responses to questions with ‘I mean’? When did this become commonplace?
‘According to a new poll, 54 percent of voters think President-elect Trump will do a good job upon his return to the White House. So it’s official: Covid causes memory loss.’—Seth Meyers
I’m pleased to announce my first cover story for Cineaste—my interview with writer-director Sean Baker about his Palme d’Or winner ‘Anora.’ Cineaste is old-school, so you need to subscribe to read it. www.cineaste.com
The only reason the Democrats won’t control the House in 2025 is the extreme gerrymandering in North Carolina. What this article doesn’t mention is that the corrupt Supreme Court has struck down reasonable challenges to gerrymandering. The fix is in.
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After watching/hearing him make the promotional rounds on Seth Meyers and SmartLess, I’ve realized that Hugh Grant is one of the funniest and drollest people alive.
