The most likely, of last night’s awards, to an awards-show junkie in 2002 imagining the hazy future:
1. Meryl Streep. Sure! Bet the speech was great.
2. Christopher Plummer. Glad he’s still around!
3. Martin Scorsese. He deserves some recognition!
4. George Clooney. Did he win for playing Cary Grant?
Middling likelihood–not impossible to imagine, Read More
Last night’s Golden Globes—which we covered live!—were notable for yet more star worship than even the perpetually star-worshipping Globes usually get up to, and most of the stars were of a somewhat aging vintage. Awards went to practically anyone who might have been on People’s Most Intriguing People of 1998 list: Steven Spielberg for Read More
Welcome to New York Observer‘s Golden Globe coverage of the 2012, where you’ll be able to read (and participate!) in real time as Drew Grant and Dan D’Addario take bets on which acclaimed actor will be the first to slap that lopsided grin right off Ricky Gervais‘ face. Let the fun begin! Read More
The Descendants is a soap opera with Hawaiian shirts. It’s worth seeing for the sharp but uneven human observations in the script and direction by Alexander Payne (Sideways), and sometimes it’s fun (but mostly exasperating) watching George Clooney trying to act as he struggles through the role of a man trying to raise two needy daughters while grieving over the loss of his wife in a boating accident. Clichés ensue. Clooney fans may be pleased to see their hero in a sentimental tearjerker, but the fawning and gushing of so many astute critics who have greeted this plodding melodrama with raves on the film-festival circuit mystifies me. The Descendants has moments, and I give it high marks for making literal sense at a time when few movies do, but it isn’t original or revealing enough to merit a running time of just under two hours. To me, it doesn’t come close to this year’s other George Clooney potboiler, The Ides of March. Read More
If the flaws in the American character are reflected in the politicians Americans vote for, then The Ides of March provides not only food for thought, but the analytical raw material for election-year nightmares as well. This behind-the-scenes political blowtorch hits the screen like the fire from a high-tech Uzi and forces both the right and left sides of a polarized country to rethink the electoral process. A cynical, polished and deeply disturbing look at the kind of camera-ready liberal dreamboy who gets elected in 60-second sound bites, it is one of the most important films of the year.
George Clooney is the director, co-writer and star of this biting back-room exposé of twisted ambition, betrayal and ideological disillusionment in the tradition of The Candidate and The Best Man, set during a Democratic primary debate in Ohio. Read More
September’s Toronto Film Festival–not the most glamorous or eagerly awaited among the film festival circuit, but the one whose placement in the calendar tends to position Oscar front-runners, has announced some of this year’s lineup. Films to play in Toronto include Glenn Close’s woman-in-drag drama Albert Nobbs, Luc Besson’s Aung San Suu Kyi drama The Read More
On Thursday evening, I was sitting with a group of friends at the Bedford in Williamsburg discussing the major political issue of the day—the breakup of George Clooney and Elisabetta Canalis and just who dumped whom.
Jane thought he was the dumpee, which seemed like a stretch. After all, if Michael Clayton taught us Read More
For the past several years, media business models have been under siege. Music and newspapers get a lot of the attention, but what about the business model of the classic American movie star? Like everything else, this model has recently come into serious question, as big-time stars like Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford and Julie Read More
And you thought you had a good Christmas! The holiday weekend was the biggest in the history of Hollywood, with the top ten films grossing a combined $278 million. Of course Avatar was once again the top choice, pacing the field with $75 million, but a trio of newcomers all did exceptionally well: Read More
