Entry from July 25, 2007

This summer, on eight successive Tuesday evenings, I am presenting a series called The American Movie Hero (go to www.americanmoviehero.com) at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. The sixth film in the series, Sergio Leone’s Fistful of Dollars with Clint Eastwood, screened on Tuesday, July 24th. Before showing the film, I spoke as…

Entry from July 18, 2007

This summer, on eight successive Tuesday evenings, I am presenting a series called The American Movie Hero (go to www.americanmoviehero.com) at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. The fifth film in the series, Howard Hawks’s The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart, screened on Tuesday, July 17th. Before showing the film, I spoke as follows: After…

Entry from July 11, 2007

This summer, on eight successive Tuesday evenings, I am presenting a series called The American Movie Hero (go to www.americanmoviehero.com) at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. The fourth film in the series, John Ford’s The Searchers with John Wayne, screened on Tuesday, July 10th. Before showing the film, I spoke as follows:…

Introducing the Dwights

Introducing the Dwights

A charming Australian coming-of-age tale in which Brenda Blethyn gets to polish up and make more sympathetic her now-familiar screen persona as a loud, vulgar woman of the lower classes

Clubland

Clubland

In its native Australia, Cherie Nowlan’s Introducing the Dwights was called Clubland, and you can see how that title could have been confusing to an American — or to a British — audience. The clubs of Sydney, where the film is set, feature magicians, ventriloquists, even a guy who imitates bird-songs. In short, they are…