“I don’t think it’s cruel to say this, because John himself would undoubtedly have turned it into a gleeful anecdote: When he had the stroke that killed him, he was at a local dinner theater. Hell of a review.”

“I don’t think it’s cruel to say this, because John himself would undoubtedly have turned it into a gleeful anecdote: When he had the stroke that killed him, he was at a local dinner theater. Hell of a review.”

“I am inclined to aver that every activity needs its critics, from narcissists bloviating in Washington to exhibitors of knee holes in their blue jeans by way of following a fad. So, too, tennis players and others wearing their caps backward. There is, to be sure, only fairly innocuous folly in puncturing pants or reversing caps, but for political or artistic or religious twisting of thought or harboring holes in the head there is rather less excuse. I have always inveighed against the bleary journalism practiced by newspaper reviewers, as opposed to the real criticism performed by, well, critics.”

“I am inclined to aver that every activity needs its critics, from narcissists bloviating in Washington to exhibitors of knee holes in their blue jeans by way of following a fad. So, too, tennis players and others wearing their caps backward. There is, to be sure, only fairly innocuous folly in puncturing pants or reversing…

“I often felt a twinge of grief at the idea that John Simon had devoted his life to a method of work that could only make him increasingly unhappy. Here was a man, elegant, articulate, and vastly knowledgeable, fluent in at least half a dozen languages, whose gifts of mind gave nothing back to the arts he wrote about except a few unkind remarks that made fun of someone’s performance, ethnicity, physical attributes, or, with a pun, on his target’s name. (“If this is Norman Wisdom, I’ll take Saxon folly.”) Other theatre critics keep such darts in their rucksacks for occasional use; John lived by them.”

“I often felt a twinge of grief at the idea that John Simon had devoted his life to a method of work that could only make him increasingly unhappy. Here was a man, elegant, articulate, and vastly knowledgeable, fluent in at least half a dozen languages, whose gifts of mind gave nothing back to the…

“One person’s critic is another person’s crackpot. That they are not united in their opinions is ascribable to the Latin saying: quot homines, tot sententiae. I myself prefer being considered a creep, but that is what you get for having what Vladimir Nabokov called ‘Strong Opinions.’ It is odd that in a country so wallowing in negativity, starting with mass shootings and climaxing with Trump, such an unimportant matter as theater criticism should generate so much hostility. The only target patently more important is lead in the drinking water.”

“One person’s critic is another person’s crackpot. That they are not united in their opinions is ascribable to the Latin saying: quot homines, tot sententiae. I myself prefer being considered a creep, but that is what you get for having what Vladimir Nabokov called ‘Strong Opinions.’ It is odd that in a country so wallowing…

Review: Little Women (no spoilers)

I was just happy to be in the room with this family. I was happy to be bathed in their familial intimacies. I felt my heart break with their heartbreaks. And I was happy to feel clear in what each of the people represented and not to feel like the characters or the director was shoving the subtext down my throat like they were fattening my liver for pâté.

The DVD Wrapup: Cold War, Betty Blue, Official Secrets, Demons, Olivia, American Dreamer, Land of Yik Yak

Cold War: Criterion Collection: Blu-ray Betty Blue: Criterion Collection: Blu-ray Although Paweł Pawlikowski’s highly personal Cold War (2018) could have been set in any number of Eastern European countries, during the first 15 years of the post-war era, the hint in the director’s surname tells us that most of the film, at least, takes place…

20 Weeks To Oscar: Cinema, Trump, and Oscar

What smashed me hard across the face about 1917 was the simple earnestness about honor and, considering its time, manhood at a time when America is wallowing in a lack of honor and a dearth of what were once seen as the virtues of manhood.

1917 is just one of the 5 period movies that very specifically deal with the male engagement with power.

E. Scott Weinberg On Youthful Fangoria Encounters

“Then one day I came home from school and discovered that every single issue of Fangoria that I owned had been shredded and dumped onto my bed. But first, here’s a little bit about my parents.” E. Scott Weinberg On Youthful Fangoria Encounters

Rome Bookstore Closes

Rome's most beautiful bookshop closes its doors | @wantedinrome https://t.co/wFTGRh9c73 pic.twitter.com/03QtOif44H — Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) November 22, 2019

With a Grauniad-Alleged $300 Million Budget, Could The Yet-Unseen But Surely Weird Cats Pass A Billion Dollars at The Box Office?

With a Grauniad-Alleged $300 Million Budget, Could The Yet-Unseen But Surely Weird Cats Pass A Billion Dollars at The Box Office?

WEEKEND READS ON MEDIAQUAKE

WEEKEND READS ON MEDIAQUAKE To be precise, Alden is the largest single shareholder at 25 percent It owns Denver Post and other newspaper properties through Digital First Media. It is a very opaque owner stripping the financial assets of its properties. Yet, not alone. — David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) November 19, 2019

Tribune Trolley Problem

business model now switching from ruthless incompetence to competent ruthlessness — Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) November 19, 2019

Tribune Prospects

"The Tribune Publishing Board of Directors is in discussions with Alden to put two members on the Board in connection with increasing the size of the Board from six to eight." https://t.co/Gwi5ZGW7l5 — Crain's Chicago (@CrainsChicago) November 19, 2019

McClatchy Prospects

The past decade has seen the conversion of news companies into financial instruments stripped of civic responsibility by waves of outside money men. Here's the latest on McClatchy's prospects: https://t.co/7GN7ghzDyI — Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) November 19, 2019

On The Report

In light of @thereportmovie (see it!), I wrote an op-ed for @latimes about the truth of CIA torture, its ongoing impact on victims and survivors, and why the past is still very much present. https://t.co/zXm2xWUWaN — Hina Shamsi (@HinaShamsi) November 21, 2019

Canadian Documentarian John Kastner Was 73

Canadian Documentarian John Kastner Was 73

TorStar Leaving Print in Canada

NEW: Torstar memo on the closing of StarMetro daily print publications. Says 73 editorial, advertising and distribution employees will be laid off. Star plans to reopen digital bureaus in the affected cities. pic.twitter.com/10rbHW04lU — Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) November 19, 2019

Box Office First Look

I’m getting back into this habit… but a little uninspired so far.

Frozen 2 opened in the same slot as Frozen, although the first time around, it opened on a single screen. This time, it started wide, as has become the norm

Marriage Story Vs. Kramer

“Part of what makes ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ endure all these years later,” writes @jourdayen, is that “it imagines a male character who learns to grow and recognize the part he played in the dissolution of his marriage” https://t.co/med7jeCcCw — New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 14, 2019

Do You Want To Build A Straw Man?

I like Mark Harris. I respect Mark Harris. I care what Mark Harris thinks.

Unfortunately, Mark Harris has become one of the media’s most aggressive spokeshammers for the “everything is a nail” coalition.

I read his most recent Vanity Fair piece, “Conventional Oscar Wisdom Has an Almost All-White Best-Actress Lineup—For No Reason” with real curiosity.