The Friday 4/2/2021

Michelle Pfeiffer, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges: French Exit (Sony)

My piece for the Scarecrow blog this week, and etc.

French Exit/Godzilla vs. Kong. “A gliding wackiness that never seems labored, but isn’t without gravity, either.”/ “It was disconcerting indeed to watch this one on a TV set, where its point is pretty much lost. I thought the previous Godzilla picture was pretty awful, but at least it was bigger than you.”

And hey, join us for Scarecrow Academy on Saturday April 3 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time for another free Zoom meeting in “The Art in Noir: Film Noir and the Director.” This week we’re talking about Gun Crazy, directed by Joseph H. Lewis, a delirious exercise in noir. I introduce the movie here:

At my other website, What a Feeling!, I line up five more vintage reviews from the 1980s: Henry Winkler’s Memories of Me, starring Billy Crystal and Alan King; Lezli-An Barrett’s Business as Usual, a feminist drama with Glenda Jackson – the only feature by its director; John Schlesinger’s Madame Sousatzka, a big showcase for Shirley MacLaine; Jerry Belson’s Surrender, a stillborn comedy with Sally Field and Michael Caine; and Ridley Scott’s Someone to Watch Over Me, a crime romance with Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers, and Lorraine Bracco.