First, let’s acknowledge that I laughed as hard at Bridesmaids as most anyone else. It was a consistently diverting, often very clever romp, and I thought Kristen Wiig and the rest of the cast were, on the whole, first-rate. That said, even with the extra smarts and wit that distinguished this movie from so many imbecilic contemporary comedies, Bridesmaids still … More Details

As we kick off Oscar month tomorrow, we also honor the birthday of Clark Gable, who picked up a statuette at the seventh Academy Awards ceremony in 1935. He got it for a movie he did not want to do — a comedy called It Happened One Night – and though he would be nominated twice more, he would not … More Details

Judging by what I’ve seen recently, I think the answer is “yes”. Yet even so, some of our (supposedly) finest critics still find reasons to celebrate. Truth be told, I have a bone to pick with New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis- a big one. In her maddening write-up of an execrable movie called “Bad Teacher” (“When The Teacher Gets … More Details

Even though mainstream Entertainment Weekly magazine named him the 16th best film director of all time, if I mention the name Ernst Lubitsch to my own middle-aged contemporaries, I usually get a hazy look. “I’ve heard that name, but who was he?” The reason for this may be that Ernst Lubitsch had heart trouble, and died young (in 1948, at … More Details