Reader's Choice: Don't let 'Dick' run your life!

Each weekend Nathaniel is looking at a movie that you, the readers, chose the previous week.

Arlene: What's the deal with that Watergate thing. Do you know anything about it?
President Nixon: No, no. No no no. Absolutely nothing. I don't know a thing. No way, Jose.

Dear readers, I struggled with finding time for Dick this week. I recall mostly loving Dick in the late 90s/early 00s even though the quality of it definitely varies. But you demanded I spend some time with Dick so I finally did this weekend. It turns out it's especially delightful in the morning.

Everything you've just read is jokey but true (literally and figuratively) and if you found it annoying, then Andrew Fleming's Dick (1999) is probably not the movie for you...

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Chaplin vs. Keaton vs. Lloyd

by Cláudio Alves

Today marks a century since Harold Lloyd delivered his most legendary work to movie theaters. Safety Last! is a silent comedy classic, featuring such riveting stunts as the famous climax that finds our hero hanging from a clock. Though no other Lloyd picture has a comparable legacy, the man's filmography is a treasure trove for slapstick lovers with an inclination for bespectacled hunks. If you have any doubts, jump over to the Criterion Channel, where a new 42-title collection showcases the man's work from the late 1910s to the advent of sound and 1936's Milky Way. If you're not entertained, see a doctor, stat.

But of course, maybe Lloyd's not your preferred flavor of silent comedy. Amid the classic loving community, it seems everyone has a favorite from the three big names that defined Hollywood slapstick and continue to live in the public imagination. So, because this is a day for foolishness, why not indulge in pot-stirring drama and futile competition? Between Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd, who's your pick? Maybe it's…

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A Goop-y Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

Gwyneth Paltrow in "The Politician" | © Netflix

"I wish you well," whispered Gwyneth Paltrow to Terry Sanderson, who had just lost his suit against the star. That passive-aggressive bit of politeness was a masterful coup de grace, the cherry on top of a gossip sundae that set social media atwitter. Though the year isn't half over, Paltrow already seems like one of 2023 defining personalities, at least as far as celebrity fodder is concerned. From bone broth-based scorn to tabloid queen, Paltrow's image couldn't be more malleable, nor the internet more obsessed with her. And yet, all this furor can inspire sadness in those who admire the Oscar-winnning nepo baby as an actress rather than just as a media sensation.

In the past decade, Gwyneth Paltrow has been consciously uncoupling from the movie business, the GOOP empire taking over all other concerns. Regardless of how problematic her company's actions might be, there's a yearning for the days when we could discuss Paltrow's performances rather than the explosive qualities of her vagina-scented candles. With that in mind, and since coming up with that Angela Bassett top ten was so fun, here's a list of favorite Gwyneth Paltrow performances. May it be a reminder of what a smashing thespian she can be…

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Yes No Maybe So: "Asteroid City"

Sometimes I think I'd feel more at home outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Wes Anderson's new film Asteroid City, which takes place in a fictional townin 1955 arrives in theaters on June 16th. The official synopsis goes like so...

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Doc Corner: Steven Yeun Narrates 'Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV'

By Glenn Charlie Dunks

Let’s be honest. Artist bio-docs are a dime a dozen. Many artists have received the treatment, even though documentary is (almost as if entirely by the medium’s nature) a not particularly good artform of its own within which to interrogate the life of somebody like Nam June Paik. Despite video being so integral to his work, much of its impact inevitably comes from being able to see his work flicker in front of your face rather than on the TV screen. Screens within screens.

For that reason I suspect Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV would be really great to see theatrically. Where the kaleidoscopic colours and swirling digital artistry could be brought to life in as immersive a way as they probably possibly could beyond seeing them in the technological flesh.

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