Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 26/11/2008
By Edward Copeland When you are in a situation like me, restricted to watching new movies on DVD, it's always a bit of a disappointment when you find out you're not watching what people saw in theaters. I don't examine the discs that closely and since they come in a by-mail service, I don't get the DVD case pointing out extended cuts. This was the case with Tropic Thunder . I thought...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 23/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Before I begin expounding in earnest about why I love Terms of Endearment (which turns 25 today) so much, I'd like to talk about an old bugaboo of mine that I haven't spoken of at length on these virtual pages: There is no such thing as a chick flick. There are merely good movies, bad movies and those in between and Terms of Endearment is a very good movie and if you...
[CinemaRatty] Lattest Articles (Free subscription) | 23/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Before I begin expounding in earnest about why I love Terms of Endearment (which turns 25 today) so much, I'd like to talk about an old bugaboo of mine that I haven't spoken of at...
[CinemaRatty] Lattest Articles (Free subscription) | 17/11/2008
NOTE: Ranked No. 13 on my all-time top 100 of 2007 By Edward Copeland Can one of the greatest nonsensical farces ever made also be a savvy statement on the absurdity of war? The case could be made as...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 17/11/2008
NOTE: Ranked No. 13 on my all-time top 100 of 2007 By Edward Copeland Can one of the greatest nonsensical farces ever made also be a savvy statement on the absurdity of war? The case could be made as far as the Marx Brothers' brilliant Duck Soup goes. After all, Kubrick had originally planned to end Dr. Strangelove with a pie fight. Duck Soup turns 75 today. Directed by Leo McCarey,...
[CinemaRatty] Lattest Articles (Free subscription) | 14/11/2008
By Edward Copeland I can't recall whether it was Time or Newsweek, but I remember the cover: Harrison Ford and Karen Allen tied to a post. I'm fairly certain the name Spielberg hadn't entered my...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 14/11/2008
By Edward Copeland I can't recall whether it was Time or Newsweek, but I remember the cover: Harrison Ford and Karen Allen tied to a post. I'm fairly certain the name Spielberg hadn't entered my consciousness, even though I loved Jaws . I hadn't seen Close Encounters or 1941 or The Sugarland Express for that matter (though I had seen Duel ). I could hardly wait for Raiders of the Lost...
The Reaction (Free subscription) | 12/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Now that we have hope for the future again, I think we should bring back some humor as well. I would love to see Obama announce that he's naming Bill Ayers secretary of homeland security and see how many right-wing nuts keel over before he says, "Just kidding."
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 11/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Alan Arkin received his second Oscar nomination for playing John Singer, a deaf-mute man who exudes so much goodness and light that his very presence seems to change everyone he comes in contact with in 1968's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter . He tries to be a guardian for a mentally challenged man (Chuck McCann). He helps an African-American doctor (Percy Rodrigues)...
[CinemaRatty] Lattest Articles (Free subscription) | 11/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Alan Arkin received his second Oscar nomination for playing John Singer, a deaf-mute man who exudes so much goodness and light that his very presence seems to change everyone he...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 09/11/2008
By Edward Copeland If you love rock 'n' roll and are of a certain age or older, you really need to have seen the Rolling Stones live because film can't do them justice, even if it's a film directed by Martin Scorsese. My sole experience with seeing the Stones live was in 1997 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando during their Bridges to Babylon tour. Later, I told a music writer friend of mine...
The Reaction (Free subscription) | 03/11/2008
By Edward Copeland Most of these hopes (or wishes) are based on the assumption that Barack Obama's win is really going to happen Tuesday. They are in no particular order. I hope that Obama's victory is decisive and not close enough to allow the GOP to try to delegitimize his presidency before he's even sworn in. I hope that the old McCain that surfaces from time to time reappears in his...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 25/10/2008
By Edward Copeland The credits perfectly set the mood. A black screen with just a creepy jack-o-lantern, lit by candle from inside, as the camera moves in tighter and tighter, accompanied by John Carpenter's brilliant and memorable score. Halloween turns 30 years old today and though it spawned countless awful imitators and its own terrible sequels, the original remains great and unsurpassed...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 23/10/2008
By Edward Copeland Philip Roth was born in 1933 and his first novel-length fiction, Goodbye Columbus , was published in 1959. Nearly 50 years since its publication, Roth continues to be one of America's most prolific and greatest novelists and as evidenced by his latest work, Indignation , neither his output nor his talent shows any sign of slowing down. What's even more amazing than...
Edward Copeland on Film (Free subscription) | 21/10/2008
By Edward Copeland After some fellow fliers mocked Gus Grissom (Fred Ward) following his landing mishap, test pilot extraordinaire Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) silences them by saying, "It takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially when it's on TV." It takes a special kind of filmmaker to make a film as great as The Right Stuff , even if Philip Kaufman has...
