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David Frankel’s THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 is the extremely slick sequel about life in a high fashion magazine. Meryl Streep again plays the imperious editor and Anne Hathaway her foil. The script traffics in changes in publishing and how social media has affected it. With most of the original cast back everyone with predictable story arcs. There is some dried eyed sentiment here and there. All...

Victor Fleming’s 1932 RED DUST is pre-code joy with three perfectly matched stars. Jean Harlow and Mary Astor vie for the attentions of Clark Gable on a steamy rubber plantation. Expert camerawork by Hal Rosson and sly dialog enhance the performances. A delight and highest recommendation. (Remade in 1953 where Gable again plays the lead this time pursued by Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.). Yet ano...

In James Vanderbilt’s NUREMBERG a WWII psychiatrist (Rami Malek) evaluates Nazi leaders before the Nuremberg trials, growing increasingly obsessed with understanding evil as he forms a disturbing bond with Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe). While something this serious does reek of Oscar bait and reportedly some of the facts were altered for dramatic effect, this is still an absorbing film boosted b...

Angus MacLachlan’s A LITTLE PRAYER is a lovely little gem about the complicated relationships in a southern family. The authenticity of the accents and behaviors are small miracles when characters from below the Mason-Dixon Line are so often portrayed as cliches with bad accents painful to the ear. Strong cast with David Strathairn as a protector of his daughter in law (Jane Levy) when he discov...

Jonathan Glazer’s BIRTH is a unique and sometimes disturbing tale of eternal love. A woman (Nicole Kidman)who becomes convinced that her deceased husband has been reincarnated as a ten-year-old boy (Cameron Bright). Glazer direction reminds me of Kubrick and the film has an odd look with desaturated colors and an emphasis on shades of green. The script has a lot of loose ends but Kidman’s delic...

John Ford’s 1953 MOGAMBO is a remake of RED DUST released two decades earlier. Clark Gable plays the lead once again where he is pursued by Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Shot mostly on location in Africa, though some scenes are in a studio. It was a difficult shoot and reportedly Gable and Kelly had an affair while on location. Shot in Technicolor by two master cinematographers Freddie Young and ...

TARZAN AND HIS MATE from 1934 is arguably the sexiest of the series. Produced during the pre-code era both Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan wear minimal loin clothes and there is even an extended underwater sequence with a totally nude Jane. The production itself is fairly spectacular with some effective special effects. Weissmuller plays the monosyllabic ape man wonderfully. Direction...

In Claude Sautet’s 1960 CLASSE TOUS RISQUES (THE BIG RISK) a ruthless criminal (Lino Ventura) flees from police pursuit, involving more and more casualties. While seeking revenge he must also find a safe place for his two young sons. Rich and complex in its characters and situations it was ignored at the time as the French New Wave was getting more attention but has since been acclaimed as a cla...

It has been a decade since I last watched Charles Vidor's GILDA (1946). It is generally remembered as the peak of Rita Hayworth's career, especially due to her sultry "Put the Blame on Mame" number. There is a lot of kinky stuff going just under the surface which could not be directly depicted at this time of heavy censorship and the viewer’s imagination is given free rein to fill in the gaps. Th...

I am reading Scott Eyman’s excellent biography of John Ford. I decided to watch Ford’s 1940 film of Steinbeck’s GRAPES OF WRATH. As usual with directors who started their career in the silent era a lot of storytelling is done visually. Few scenes are as moving as the one where Ma Joad (Jane Darwell) burns old letters and cards and looks in the mirror with a pair of ear bobs as she prepares to b...