Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
A somewhat ponderously philosophical movie is redeemed by several outstandingly good performances.
Entry from May 22, 2002
In England at the time that F.A. von Hayek won the Nobel Prize in Economics and became, naturally, a subject of considerable public interest, I remember hearing him being interviewed on the radio once. The interviewer was grilling him with a series of questions designed to show the fundamental error of his free-market theory with…
Entry from May 20, 2002
A dissenting voice, here, about what seems to be the general verdict on HBO’s production of John Frankenheimer’s film, The Path to War (“a tremendous achievement,” Tom Shales, Washington Post). Michael Gambon’s performance in the role of Lyndon Johnson is splendid, to be sure, and Alec Baldwin manages to look just right for creepy Robert…
Entry from May 17, 2002
At his sentencing to life imprisonment for spying, the former F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen said the following: “I apologize for my behavior. I am shamed by it. I’ve betrayed the trust of so many. I opened the door for calumny against my totally innocent wife and children. I’ve hurt them deeply. I’ve hurt so many…
About a Boy
A very funny movie that, like its authors’ earlier American Pie, only goes wrong when it tries to be too serious.
Unfaithful
Adrian Lyne is shockingly unfaithful to Claude Chabrol’s masterpiece, La Femme Infidèle, giving adultery the Oprah treatment.
Deuces Wild
Who’d have thought it? It seems that somewhere in Hollywood’s parallel universe the Sharks and the Jets are still rumbling.
Objectively Helpful
Can anyone say anything? Not if there is honor at the stake.
— From The New Criterion
Home Truths
It’s heartening to know that Steven Hayward is hard at work re-writing the history of the last 40 years.
—From the Times Literary Supplement
Triumph of Love, The
Mira Sorvino is the only triumphant thing about this inept adaptation of a Marivaux play.
The Day the Music Died
Ever wonder why classical music stations play the same pieces, and the same kinds of pieces, over and over again?
— From The Wall Street Journal
Nine Queens
A brilliantly conceived and executed Argentinian “sting” is only bettered by the movie that describes it.