The Bear is so so good. A feast of fine acting. Highly recommended: The Globe’s TV critic Matthew Gilbert’s column “‘The Bear’ upends the tv mom trope” (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/06/arts/bear-upends-tv-mom-trope/) about Donna Berzatto, the painful-to-watch family matriarch played brilliantly by Jamie Lee Curtis. Gilbert’s insights on Donna’s son-in-law Pete’s reaction to Donna’s refusal to go inside the restaurant in the 2nd season’s last episode helped me realize how great the writing is on this show.
The Illusionist was a huge hit in the Chase family, with my daughters, 12 and 8 at the time, snarfing up the magic, the romance and, um, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (our next James Bond?). For my part, I enjoyed the surprisingly accurate history - the events of the film really did put Frank Ferdinand in line for the Austrian-Hungarian throne, with devastating consequences.
My wife, meanwhile, for whom Hugh jackman and Christian Bale can do no wrong, prefers “The Prestige”.
We are firmly a “The Illusionist” household and mere days ago we were rehashing how much worthier and, yes, more fun it is than “The Prestige.” Biel seems to be trying so hard not to offend or distract here and it works. Meanwhile Giamatti--and the underrated script--is making the entire thing sing.
The Illusionist is a perfect choice. If there was an Actors Hall of Fame, inductees voted in by movie nuts, I would vote 100 times for Giamatti. If I want to up my mood I watch Sideways and the Illusionist one after the other.
The Illusionist vs. The Prestige. Compare and contrast.
The Bear is so so good. A feast of fine acting. Highly recommended: The Globe’s TV critic Matthew Gilbert’s column “‘The Bear’ upends the tv mom trope” (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/06/arts/bear-upends-tv-mom-trope/) about Donna Berzatto, the painful-to-watch family matriarch played brilliantly by Jamie Lee Curtis. Gilbert’s insights on Donna’s son-in-law Pete’s reaction to Donna’s refusal to go inside the restaurant in the 2nd season’s last episode helped me realize how great the writing is on this show.
The Illusionist was a huge hit in the Chase family, with my daughters, 12 and 8 at the time, snarfing up the magic, the romance and, um, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (our next James Bond?). For my part, I enjoyed the surprisingly accurate history - the events of the film really did put Frank Ferdinand in line for the Austrian-Hungarian throne, with devastating consequences.
My wife, meanwhile, for whom Hugh jackman and Christian Bale can do no wrong, prefers “The Prestige”.
We are firmly a “The Illusionist” household and mere days ago we were rehashing how much worthier and, yes, more fun it is than “The Prestige.” Biel seems to be trying so hard not to offend or distract here and it works. Meanwhile Giamatti--and the underrated script--is making the entire thing sing.
The Illusionist is a perfect choice. If there was an Actors Hall of Fame, inductees voted in by movie nuts, I would vote 100 times for Giamatti. If I want to up my mood I watch Sideways and the Illusionist one after the other.
Tu n’as rien vu à Hiroshima. Rien.
A suggestion for One Good Film: The Wife with Glenn Close. Riveting from start to finish