30 Comments

The link to Jonathan Rosenbaum’s supposed website goes to a Facebook login page, at least for me.

Expand full comment

This is exactly what I am here for. I really liked this.

Expand full comment

Always love Rosenbaum's lists; his response/alternate list to the AFI 100 American Movies had a huge impact on me when I was in high school.

Expand full comment
Oct 18, 2022Liked by Scott Tobias

Down With Love can never get enough love. Has any movie played so well to Ewan McGregor's strengths? (Yes, even Trainspotting! And Velvet Goldmine!)

Always glad to see love for Bernie as well. (And again, Jack Black's strengths, though I might give School of Rock the edge there). I have a short list of movies in my brain that in my experience absolutely everyone will like, for use at large family gatherings where no one can agree on anything. Bernie's at the top of that list.

Expand full comment
Oct 18, 2022Liked by Scott Tobias

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World is a bold choice and it’s one I definitely respect Rosenbaum for. I thought it was fine enough when I saw it on its original release, but it’s grown in my estimation over time.

Expand full comment

New York City's repertory screening hub Screen Slate launched a column during the shutdown by programmer Cristina Cacioppo called The Outskirts, which - well - champions half-forgotten movies.

It's since been turned into a monthly screening series at the Nitehawk Cinema, and they're always something special. Some I'd heard of but hadn't heard enough of (Bug, Foxfire) and some were totally off my radar and really blew me away (Video Diary of a Lost Girl, Vendetta).

You can check out the archive here:

https://www.screenslate.com/articles/outskirts

Expand full comment

This will sound like snark, and I honestly don't mean it that way, but...other than collecting links to a film's reviews in one place, what are the virtues of Rotten Tomatoes?

Expand full comment

Shame on whoever wrote that condescending letter to the Last Picture Show crew.

Expand full comment
founding

Good movies in the margins are too numerous to count. The first title that popped into my head was Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here, not that Joaquin Phoenix's career needs a boost from me. I'm scrolling through my histories in a couple of movie-ticketing apps and I'm startled by how many movies I've forgotten but that I really liked -- Colossal; The Death of Stalin; Dark Waters -- not to mention the ones that were deservedly forgotten.

I feel like this is a discussion that could be applied to all sorts of popular art forms. How many times have you seen a random band playing in some small club and thought, "Wow, these kids are really, really good. They should be getting noticed." Same with visual arts, same with dance, same with book publishing. Good art and talent are way more abundant than we often remember. The big problems are getting noticed and getting distributed. Almost every writer I know struggles with this.

When a genius emerges from a scene and gets big recognition -- and I've known more than one -- it's easy to look back and say, "Well, it was always obvious that she was going to succeed." But was it really? For every one of those cases, I know ten more people equally brilliant and talented and driven who struggle for the same recognition. Gurus who claim to be able to teach the elements of success rarely emphasize the part chance plays in it all.

Moby-Dick was one of those works that moldered in the margins for nearly three-quarters of a century, a half-remembered commercial failure, until champions like William Faulkner and D.H. Lawrence brought it back to light. The margins are where the most interesting treasures are lurking.

Expand full comment
Oct 18, 2022·edited Oct 18, 2022Liked by Scott Tobias

Spanglish! I just read Scott's review of Spanglish on AVC, and though he makes a very convincing argument as to the positives of this film - so much that I almost wondered if I had been too hasty in my negative judgement... But then I remembered the kid in the movie. Goodness, I thought she was so insufferable...!

It's funny - I'm a big fan of James Brooks, really digging both Broadcast News and As Good as It Gets, but there was a higher degree of sitcom-ness in Spanglish that I just couldn't overcome.

But this film sounds right up my alley. In August you reviewed Keane, which I had never seen, and wow, was that an excellent film. Big thanks to you for highlighting these gems.

Expand full comment
Oct 19, 2022Liked by Keith Phipps

Just place a hold for THE DEAD GIRL at my local library

Expand full comment

Brittany Murphy and Nick Searcy, two very good actors whose names make me very sad for very different reasons.

Richard Brody I don't find as being contrarian for its own sake: he gives the impression of at least approaching a work without prejudgement, unlike, oh, let's say Armond White. If there's one thing I honestly don't understand about this day and age, it's how criticism seems to provoke such deep-seated anger in some people to the point they spend a massive amount of time and energy gunning for the messenger.

Expand full comment

I've been waiting to see people revisiting both Killing Zoe and especially Rules of Attraction now that Roger Avary's name is back in the culture with Video Archives, but I have not seen it happen yet. Based on a cursory glance at Amazon, Zoe still doesn't even have a US Blu-ray, which sucks because I imagine the colors in that movie would really pop in a new transfer.

Expand full comment

One small film that’s been completely under the radar but deserves more attention is “High Tide” (1987). This is what I would call a genuine chick flick because it was produced by one woman (Sandra Levy), directed by another (Gillian Armstrong), and written by yet another (Laura Jones) and features excellent performances by three generations of actresses (Jan Adele, Judy Davis, and Claudia Karvan). The most notable male character turns out to be inconsequential in the long run, and the real thrust of the film deals with the struggle between the three female characters as they collide with each other. Judy Davis is particularly noteworthy, and I think it’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. But it’s apparently not available on DVD at the moment, so it’s damn near impossible for people to discover it years later.

Expand full comment