Ranking the Men of "L.A. Confidential"

We're revisiting the 1997 film year in the lead up to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown.  Here's Ben Miller on L.A Confidential

For my money, Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential is a bonafide masterpiece. Despite nine Oscar nominations and a Best Supporting Actress victory for Kim Basinger, the ample group of fine male actors missed any sort of accolades. It doesn't mean some of them didn't deserve it.

Here are my picks for the 10 best male performances from that film...

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FYC: A conversation about "Mare of Easttown" and the great Kate Winslet

As an FYC for all things Mare of Easttown, Eric and Nathaniel got together for a conversation about what a rich viewing experience the HBO miniseries was. 

ERIC BLUME: Nathaniel, now that Mare of Easttown has wrapped, I'm sure viewers will want to talk about it, least of all because it features Kate Winslet giving one of the greatest performances of her life.  But more on that later.  First, let's talk about overall impressions of the show.  While it certainly has its flaws, one of the things I loved about it the most was its capture of small details in the lives of the characters and the setting.  I spent the first 18 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and the show captures so many of the nuances of PA life.  I loved how everyone was a cousin (cousins are a thing in PA); how people just walked into the front door of the homes of their friends; how everyone has a nickname (Lori is mostly called "Lor"). 

The production design was incredible. Every home, exterior and interior, looks like the house a middle-class Pennsylvania person lives in.  Jean Smart's afghan alone should win that team an Emmy...

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Review: The Last Vermeer

By Abe Friedtanzer

I know that 2020 has felt like an eternity for a number of reasons, but how is it possible that this never-ending year has given us not one but two lackluster movies about art starring Claes Bang?

The Burnt Orange Heresy, about an art critic and a reclusive painter, was released in theaters by Sony Pictures Classics right before the pandemic hit and then rereleased in August since it barely had any time to make an impression (not that the experience of seeing it does that either). Now, Bang is back as a Dutch Jew investigating the actions of an eccentric artist accused of collaborating with the Nazis in the immediate aftermath of World War II in The Last Vermeer…

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Best of the "Whodunnit?" Genre (Part Three)

Part One Gosford Park, etcetera
Part Two The Maltese Falcon, etcetera
...and now we conclude the countdown of the best whodunnits in honor of the impending release of the all star mystery Knives Out.

by Eurocheese

2. Memento
I know Christopher Nolan isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – fair enough. Whodunnits are essentially excuses to get inside the head of a killer. To start with a murder, realize the killer can’t trust his own thoughts , and try to put together who is pulling the strings in his mind… what an impressive conceit to thrill die hard mystery fans. Disorienting the audience in every scene while cutting in clips of a paranoid, trapped man trying to piece together his memories, without giving anything away? I have to believe Agatha Christie herself would applaud the finale...

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Prime in August: The Elephant Man, How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Eat me alive. Mommy, mommy 🎵

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017/18)
We should talk about this movie at some point real soon now that you can all see it. L-O-V-E this entire scene. My favorite in the movie though these screen pulls are random as promised. I want this nominated for Best Original Song though it never shall come to pass...

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