Leonard Maltin

Lunching With Oscar’s Finest

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:25:43 GMT

What a treat, and an honor, to be invited to attend the Oscar Nominees Lunch once again. This unique gathering of over 100 nominees brings together stars, directors, animators, sound men, documentarians, screenwriters, makeup artists, and other collaborators—and treats them all the same. It’s a rare opportunity to commune with leading talents from every aspect of the movie world…but of course, stars get the lion’s share of attention. I told Meryl Streep, “I hope you know you are loved,” and she said she did at that moment, even though “I thought my career was washed up twenty years ago.” That just goes to show that we never see...

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Wartime Britain – Three Complete Dramas on DVD

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:00:02 GMT

Guest Review Stories inspired by real-life events of World War Two continue to inspire dramatists and filmmakers, especially in the UK…and I never tire of watching them. Here are three solid examples recently released as a boxed DVD set by Acorn Media. ISLAND AT WAR Several summers ago, my family and I visited the beautiful Isle of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. We knew nothing of its history or its role in World War Two. (I only knew the name in connection with cows, I’m afraid.) I was in for quite an education. This lovely, gentle island was occupied by the Germans for five years. The locals evacuated many of their children, and Jewish families, thinking they...

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The Woman In Black—movie review

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:00:02 GMT

As ghost stories go, this one isn’t bad, but the filmmakers take an awfully long time getting to the actual plot, content to spend the first half of the movie doling out “boo!” moments…more than I’ve ever experienced in one motion picture! Most of them are pretty effective, but after the third or fourth I felt I’d had my fill for a while. Daniel Radcliffe acquits himself well as a young lawyer in early 20th century England who is still haunted by the death of his wife, in childbirth, four years ago. With a young boy to raise, he is desperate to prove himself to his employer, and takes on a thankless assignment, traveling to a small village and then...

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Declaration Of War—movie review

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:02:12 GMT

It’s been decades since television created a genre that pundits labeled “disease-of-the-week” movies. Cable networks such as Lifetime have kept the form alive, because such stories are natural fodder for relatable drama, while medical TV shows have never gone out of style. Declaration of War, which played at the Cannes and Sundance festivals last year, and was France’s entry for the Academy Awards last year, breaks with that television tradition by fashioning a story that is as much about a relationship as it is the disease that strikes a couple’s young son. What makes the film even more unusual is that the stars (Valérie Donzelli and...

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Quality Time With Martin Scorsese

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:14:11 GMT

Imagine spending two and a half hours talking to Martin Scorsese! The Santa Barbara International Film Festival gave me that gift on Monday night, and the evening-long tribute at the historic Arlington Theatre was everything I hoped it would be. My only frustration was not having even more time so we could cover all of Scorsese’s films and go off on as many tangents as we pleased. I warned the audience that it wouldn’t be a short program, invoking the words of Casper Gutman (played by Sydney Greenstreet) in The Maltese Falcon: “I’m a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.” We both made a conscious effort to edit ourselves as the program went on,...

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Alexander Payne, Silent Film Aficionado

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:00:03 GMT

Alexander Payne is once again an Oscar-nominated director, for his wonderful film The Descendants (still my favorite picture of 2011), but you may not be aware that his love of cinema runs deep. When he agreed to introduce Lon Chaney in He Who Gets Slapped at last year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival, he talked about his lifelong passion, and his love of silent film, with such eloquence that I later asked if he would allow me to reprint his speech. This seems as good a time as any. Like most of you, I fell in love with silent film as a child, even as my exposure to them, in 1960s and '70s Omaha, was limited. And I’m sure that like many of you, I spent all of my...

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The Grey—movie review

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:21:00 GMT

Liam Neeson is one of those actors who validates a film by his mere presence in it. Sure enough, he brings gravitas and credibility to this survival thriller set in the snowy wilderness of Alaska. I wish he’d also brought along a better script. Like today’s other mainstream release, Man on a Ledge, The Grey isn’t a turkey or an embarrassment. It’s a formula-driven movie that takes far too long getting where it’s going. The story: a handful of oil-rig workers survive a disastrous plane crash. Neeson has the knowhow and the guts to lead his cohorts in their desperate attempt to stay alive without food, water, or shelter, surrounded by menacing, hungry...

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Man On A Ledge—movie review

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:00:03 GMT

Try this on for size: an ex-cop who wants to prove he was innocent of a crime that sent him “up the river” for 25 years decides that the best way to do so is to step out onto the ledge of a midtown Manhattan hotel—and create a distraction for an even wilder scheme he’s trying to cover up. As it happens, the leading actors play their parts with conviction, and director Asger Leth orchestrates the action and visual effects with considerable skill. My problem with Man on a Ledge is that once I understood the real storyline—the one hidden behind the flashy premise—I became impatient to see it resolved. The film isn’t long, but I lost interest just...

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Albert Nobbs—movie review

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:00:02 GMT

I’m delighted that Glenn Close and Janet McTeer have earned Oscar nominations for their work in this striking and memorable film, but it would be a shame if all people talked about were their performances, great as they are. Albert Nobbs is a first-rate film in every respect. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the work of director Rodrigo Garcia, one of the most talented—and underrated—filmmakers working today. (I wish more people had seen his last feature, the 2010 release Mother and Child, which like all his films puts the spotlight on interesting women.) Albert Nobbs takes us back in time to the late 19th century, and a shabby-genteel...

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‘Wings’ Takes Flight—On DVD

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:51:20 GMT

While it’s fitting that Paramount Pictures should unveil its masterful restoration of Wings on the studio’s 100th birthday, it’s a shame we had to wait this long. It is, in fact, the last Academy Award-winning Best Picture to be released on DVD and Blu-ray—an unintended irony, since it was the first film to receive that honor. (Fox’s Cavalcade was the other longtime holdout, and even now it can only be obtained as part of a big, expensive Fox tribute package.) Paramount released eight of its finest silent films on videocassette many years ago, with newly-recorded scores by the great theater organist Gaylord Carter. Of those, the silent version of Cecil B....

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Oscar Welcomes Newcomers

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:54:09 GMT

Oscar voters always have some surprises up their collective sleeve, and today was no exception. The actors’ branch is especially welcoming to new talent, as witness the nominations of first-timers Demián Bichir, Rooney Mara, Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, and Melissa McCarthy. That such relative newcomers are standing toe to toe with the likes of George Clooney and Meryl Streep is a tremendous achievement—and honor. The voters expressed their honest sentiments up and down the line: only two songs got nominated, five animated features but no Cars 2 or Adventures of Tintin, five talented directors but no Spielberg. The...

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Red Tails—movie review

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:52:00 GMT

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is one that every American should know, and deserving of a great film; unfortunately, this isn’t it. If one were scoring good intentions it would get an A for effort, simply for bringing a portion of this vast saga to theater screens. But the screenplay resembles an earnest junior high school play; that isn’t worthy of the subject or the people behind this endeavor. Red Tails has been a pet project of George Lucas’ for many years, and as one would expect it is technically flawless. The aerial action, including multiple dogfights and perilous missions over Italy and Germany, is executed with breathtaking precision—all the more...

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Coriolanus—movie review

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:05:03 GMT

I don’t know what Shakespeare purists will make of Coriolanus, but as cinematic storytelling it’s awfully impressive: a muscular, contemporary reading of the play, deftly abridged and adapted by the prolific John Logan, who also wrote Hugo and Rango this year. The primary hero, on screen and off, is Ralph Fiennes, who not only makes a formidable directing debut but delivers a ferocious (and commanding) performance in the leading role. Although the wardrobe is modern, and the film was shot in Serbia, the setting is ancient Rome, where a fearsome warrior named Caius Martius returns from battle, having vanquished his sworn enemy Aufidius. He is awarded the name Coriolanus...

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Haywire—movie review

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:00:02 GMT

In the old days a film like this would have been called a “programmer” and fulfilled its modest ambitions as the second feature on a double bill. Alas, we don’t have double features or programmers anymore; every movie carries weight, and expectations, with it. Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire has all the trappings of an “A” movie, including a big-name cast and impressive international locations, but it never rises above the level of a “B.” The action yarn was built around mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, who looks great, handles dialogue well, and knows how to kick butt. The fight scenes are potent and well staged; it isn’t every...

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We Need To Talk About Kevin—movie review

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:30:00 GMT

To say that this is not an easy film to watch is putting it mildly. No one would deny Tilda Swinton’s superior performance, but people were sharply divided when We Need to Talk About Kevin screened at the Telluride Film Festival last fall. Some folks I spoke to were downright angry. When I finally caught up with the film, I could barely stand to sit through it. Why? This is the story of a “bad seed,” a demon child who torments his poor mother from infancy through adolescence, while the father (played by John C. Reilly) remains blissfully unaware of his son’s malevolent nature. As a parent, I found the child’s hostile treatment of his good-hearted mother...

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Classic Comedy Toppers

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:00:00 GMT

A movie collectible doesn’t have to be old to appeal to me: it simply has to evoke happy thoughts of a film I care about. I never dreamed anyone would reproduce the fezzes worn by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in their classic 1933 comedy Sons of the Desert…but that’s just what Fez-o-Rama has done, along with a model that bears the symbol of Freedonia, the mythical kingdom depicted in the Marx Brothers comedy gem Duck Soup, also from 1933. (I don’t think anyone actually wears such a hat in the film, to the best of my recollection, but let’s not split hairs—pun intended. The fez looks great and so does the Freedonia emblem.) Apparently, the folks at...

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Seein' Stars

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:29:14 GMT

Even without attending the Golden Globes, I had stars in my eyes this past week, because so many events piggyback on the Globes’ ability to draw actors and filmmakers from around the world. It started with a luncheon to promote My Week With Marilyn, where I got a chance to talk informally with its stars, Michelle Williams and the redoubtable (but always charming) Kenneth Branagh. I asked Williams if anyone had even mentioned her other notable 2011 film, Meek’s Cutoff, and she said with a rueful smile, “Not a soul.” We then talked about that remarkable pioneer saga, directed by Kelly Reichardt, who also worked with the actress on the critically praised Wendy and...

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Contraband—movie review

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:05:01 GMT

If ever there were a typical January movie, it’s Contraband, a film so dreary (and downright distasteful) that no studio would think of releasing it in December, when all eyes are focused on quality. I never saw the 2008 Icelandic film on which it’s based, but I presume it must have been better than this, to persuade savvy producers that it was worth remaking in English. Baltasar Kormákur, who starred in the original, directed this adaptation. The setting is New Orleans. Mark Wahlberg plays a former criminal who, like his best pal Ben Foster, has gone straight. Then his wife’s kid brother fumbles a drug-smuggling run and winds up owing big bucks to a...

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Joyful Noise—movie review

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:00:00 GMT

It takes the combined personalities of Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton to wring entertainment value out of Joyful Noise, which they do to some degree, but it’s the lively choral music performances that partially salvage this kettle of corn. As longtime rivals in a small Georgia church choir, Latifah and Parton hurl insults and homilies back and forth with reckless abandon. The word “shameless” comes to mind after the fifth or sixth example sails by. Fortunately, they are not the only characters in the film. Parton’s bad-boy grandson (Jeremy Jordan) comes to live with her, and is immediately smitten by Latifah’s daughter (Keke Palmer), who sings with the...

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Happiness is...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:00:01 GMT

Ask my wife or daughter and they’ll tell you: it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy. It could be something as simple as a matchbook tie-in for David O. Selznick’s Duel in the Sun (although I don’t think I’ll be saving the peel-off stickers I noticed on my bananas advertising the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.) I cackled like a child when I recently opened the package containing my latest “find”—a 12-inch wooden ruler advertising the 1943 movie The Song of Bernadette. The fact that I paid five bucks for it made the acquisition all the sweeter. I love movie memorabilia, including stills and posters, but I have a special...

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Frazetta On Film

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:00:03 GMT

Frank Frazetta is revered as one of the great illustrators of the 20th century; his comics, magazine and paperback covers, especially in the realm of science-fiction and fantasy, are highly collectible. But fewer people seem to know about his mostly-anonymous freelance assignments creating artwork for movie posters in the 1960s and 70s like What’s New Pussycat?, After the Fox, and The Night They Raided Minsky’s. My pal Drew Friedman remedies this oversight in his latest blog post at drewfriedman.blogspot.com, where you’ll not only find reproductions of his major work in this field but some original art and running commentary by Drew. This comes on the heels of...

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Two Unforgettable Figures

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:00:01 GMT

When my wife and I moved to Los Angeles in 1983, and began to attend events around town, we had to pinch ourselves to realize that we were chatting with people whose work we’d admired for most of our lives. Two of them left our midst in December, and I haven’t had a chance to write about them until now. Hal Kanter, who lived to be 92, was one of the deans of comedy writers in Hollywood, a man with a résumé as long as it was diverse. He devised scripts for Crosby and Hope and Martin and Lewis. He helped write Bing Crosby’s radio show, created and produced TV series for George Gobel and Diahann Carroll (the ground-breaking Julia). He directed a handful of...

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Gary Oldman on Reelz with Leonard Maltin

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Pariah—movie review

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:21:17 GMT

Although its title may be off-putting to some people, the main character in Pariah—as played by glowing newcomer Adepero Oduye—is so emotionally open and real that you can’t help responding to her. First-time feature filmmaker Dee Rees has crafted a movie that is consistently riveting because it is steeped in truth. She and her cast never once strike a false note. (The film was expanded from a 2007 autobiographical short subject. It played at the Sundance Film Festival and earned her entrée to the prestigious Sundance Institute, where the feature-length script was developed.) Oduye plays Alike—pronounced A-LEE-kay, and nicknamed Lee—a bright high...

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Orson Welles—Heard, Not Seen

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:19:22 GMT

Many people are familiar with Orson Welles’ notorious radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, which aired on Halloween eve, 1938, and caused a nationwide panic. It made the “boy wonder” of Broadway a household name, and led to offers from Hollywood that culminated in the production of his masterpiece, Citizen Kane, in 1941. He brought along many of his radio colleagues, from actors like Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, and Everett Sloane to composer Bernard Herrmann. Having been steeped in an aural medium, he approached the use of sound in film as few others ever did, before or since. Aside from old-time-radio diehards, I don’t know...

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