Personally, I can’t hear Robert Redford utter the word “secrets” without my mind drifting back to Sneakers, the 1992 minor cult classic in which Redford portrayed a computer hacker and former countercultural leader who avoids arrest and goes underground for twenty-five years before his identity is discovered and used against him. The film bears more than…
To create 42, the new biopic about Jackie Robinson that topped the box office this past weekend, writer/director Brian Helgeland fashioned the true and emotionally explosive story of a milestone in the struggle for racial equality – the integration of baseball – into a film certain to offend absolutely no one. Any story about the…
Last season, as I reviewed and analyzed every episode of season one of Veep, I noted on more than one occasion that nothing much changed from episode to episode. Vice-President Selina Meyer continuously strove for relevance in the political arena. She was given several substantive issues to lead on, only to see POTUS downgrade her…
I’m back in The Atlantic today. discussing the new Terrence Malick film, To the Wonder, and why it marks such a dramatic shift from the great director’s earlier work. Here’s a taste: “Malick seems to have grasped something about a generation of young adults who have not yet grown up. Neil has never learned to…
It does not take much prompting to get me to talk about Sam Rockwell. I consider him to be vastly underrated as an actor, so I see it as my duty to pontificate on his brilliance when presented with the opportunity. That’s what happened last week, when a colleague popped into my office to ask…
Last week, Ashley Judd disappointed supporters when she officially declined to run for U.S. Senate in her “home” state of Kentucky. But her reluctance to jump into what would have been a very tough race won’t preclude other celebrities from considering running for office. In fact, it seems that celebrities are flirting with the idea…
I’m back in The Atlantic today with a new piece about Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines and the pitfalls of autobiographical filmmaking. Here is an excerpt: Cianfrance, in being so upfront about his personal connection to the material, has found an effective way to address the issues of working-class America. By making abundantly…
I don’t want to be a bummer, but I’m getting worried about Anchorman: The Legend Continues. Don’t misunderstand me: no matter what happens between now and December, I’m still going to go see it. I would probably plunk down $11.50 to watch Ron Burgundy mow his lawn for ninety minutes (somebody get to work on…
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