Christmas in July

Pay it Forward by Mimi Leder is meant to be another in what I take to be a new series of heart-tugging, inspirational tales like Music of the Heart or American Beauty (which also starred Kevin Spacey) that derive their oomph from the assumption that life in America is pretty grim and miserable but that…

A not-uninteresting first feature from Dylan Kidd is a little too glib about providing its hero with the fixings for a moral makeover, but, all the same, it’s hard not to like him.

Beaumarchais: The Scoundrel, directed by Edouard Molinaro from an unpublished play by Sacha Guitry has a Cyrano-like panache to it and is mostly quite enjoyable—though it is still worth remembering what Fabrice Luchini, in the title role, says to Manuel Blanc, the star-struck young Gudin who complains that the actors are pronouncing his words too…

Wes Anderson’s new film lives up to the high standard he set for himself in Rushmore (1998) and Bottle Rocket (1996). A must-see rating.

[See discussion under “My Diary” for June 27, 2013] Discover more from James Bowman Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email. Type your email… Subscribe

When the Cat’s Away (not a very adequate translation of the French Chacun Cherche Son Chat or “Everyone’s looking for his cat”), by Cédric Klapisch, is a charmingly old-fashioned kind of film, in spite of its depiction of very contemporary social realities. It offers a marvelously undimmed romanticism about Paris, and about the glamour of…