Sometime in the late 1960’s, I asked Jean Renoir what he thought of Ernst Lubitsch. He raised his eyebrows and said, enthusiastically, “Lubitsch!? But he invented the modern Hollywood.” By “modern Hollywood,” Renoir meant American movies from about 1924 to the start of the ’60s. Before Lubitsch’s arrival to California from Germany in 1922 (to Read More
Ron Shelton’s Hollywood Homicide , from a screenplay by Robert Souza and Mr. Shelton, should have been a sharper action-comedy satire on the LAPD than it eventually turned out to be. Its failure was not the fault of the capable cast that was assembled for the project. The subject is not to blame, either-buddy-buddy cop Read More
Tom Shadyac’s Bruce Almighty , from a screenplay by Steve Koren, Mark O’Keefe and Steve Oedekerk, plays out on the screen as a little movie of modest invention, but with mysteriously massive box-office returns-at least in that magical first week that determines bragging rights for a whole season, if not longer. Of course, vulgar commercial Read More
Jim Rutenberg
Wednesday, Sept. 15
This is a given: There is nobody as in command of the old variety-show idiom as Marty Short. And he’s taken the next big step: Just as Rosie O’Donnell commandeered the spirits of Merv, Mike Douglas and Dinah Shore for her return-to-cuddly-showbiz talk show, Martin Short has commandeered the Read More
Wednesday, April 7
Banned in America: The World’s Sexiest Commercials . Um … if they’re banned in America, then how can Fox air them? Just another example of a Murdochian paradox. [WNYW, 5, 9 P.M.]
Thursday, April 8
Forget that Mars-Venus crap. Here’s the true gender divide: Men like to watch hard-core pornographic Read More
Peter Bogdanovich’s Movie of the Week
Our cup runneth over: In one week, three of my all-time favorite films, all made by the same director, the inimitable though much imitated, popular and innovative genius of a filmmaker, especially to be remembered for the irresistible sparkle of his comedies and musicals; that Berliner of Polish Read More
