In film schools of the future, professors will teach ‘Tammy’ as an object lesson in Making Everything Go Wrong. Richard Corliss Read Quote
The music was the best thing about the Four Seasons and the central asset of the ‘Jersey Boys’ show. By concentrating on the group’s personal wrangling, to the near exclusion of their songs, Clint Eastwood has jettisoned the joy and made this a one-Season movie: winter in New Jersey. And, man, that’s bleak. Richard Corliss Read Quote
In their plush melodies and plummy platitudes, many Rodgers-and-Hammerstein songs were secular hymns, which so insinuated themselves into the ear of the Eisenhower-era listener that they became the liturgical music for the American mid-century. Richard Corliss Read Quote
The big gamble in ‘Focus’ – it’s a Will Smith movie that dares to be small. Richard Corliss Read Quote
The people who run Hollywood are supposed to be masters at creating drama, suspense, thrills – at putting on a great show. If we knew not only who the winners were but also by how much they won, the Oscar show could actually be the Super Bowl of movies. Richard Corliss Read Quote
The 1930s birthed two great agrarian novels: ‘Gone with the Wind’ from the viewpoint of the ruling class, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ for the underclass. And both were turned into movies that dared to be true to the books’ controversial themes. Richard Corliss Read Quote
A movie like ‘Selma’ should be a relic in a time capsule from 1965, a clue to how well we heeded King’s words and how far we have advanced. Instead, it is a reminder that the ‘American problem’ has yet to be solved. Richard Corliss Read Quote
One of the occupational hazards of reviewing year-end biopics with Oscar ambitions is pointing out discrepancies between the real subjects and their on-screen avatars. Richard Corliss Read Quote
You know the fairy-tale drill, especially from the Disney versions: the heroines endure awful stuff in rites of passage that lead to a joyous resolution of, usually, marriage to a prince. ‘Into the Woods’ follows that template, then asks, ‘What happens after Happy Ever After?’ Richard Corliss Read Quote
Hollywood has always seen Sondheim as a caviar brand unsuitable for a popcorn industry. Richard Corliss Read Quote
