The more movies I watch, the more rules of thumb emerge. One is that comedies are best at 90 minutes. Another, as I realized while
As “Tron: Legacy” (2010) lightly brushes over might-have-been interesting issues such as open-source code versus code ownership and settles for a flat, emotionless, CGI-effects-driven adventure,
“Double Indemnity” (1944), one of the most well-respected and influential film noirs, is a near-masterwork of plotting regardless of genre. It can be enjoyed as
“Tron” (1982) is a touchstone movie in the history of digital effects, as it uses about 15 minutes of computer-created graphics to represent the inside
“Ball of Fire” (1941) combines the “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” fairy tale with noir with slapstick, and it’s worthy of a smile for
Billy Wilder returns to the winning ingredients of Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, false identities and envelope-pushing sex-based comedy for “Irma la Douce” (1963). Laugh-out-loud funny
“Anora” (2024) takes the “stripper with a heart of gold meets white knight” fairy tale (most famously seen in “Pretty Woman”) and turns it on
“RoboCop” (1987) is a marvel of satirical balance. Normally, I do not get my laughs from violence, but somehow the ingenious (and unfortunately timeless) screenplay
At one point in “Sabrina” (1954), Linus Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart) asks Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) to sing her song in French for him again, slower.
“Some Like It Hot” (1959), perhaps Billy Wilder’s most crowd-pleasing film if not his deepest, is one of those special comedies that’s funny even in