Just watched Marriage Italian Style for the first time in years. What a glorious performance by Sophia Loren.

New to The Criterion Channel and highly recommended: Jacques Tourneur’s Berlin Express (1948), an excellent thriller with great location shooting in France and Germany. Story by Curt Siodmak, who I interviewed for my Billy Wilder book.

Kind of shocked that the Smartless guys never heard of Lindsay Anderson. Brian Cox was right to scold them. Less golf, more movies, guys.

Discovery of the week: Ernst Lubitsch’s witty and delightful The Doll (1919). It’s on YouTube.

One of my favorites from No Kings in NYC.

I can’t believe Vince Gilligan’s TV series (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and now Pluribus) haven’t swept every award for cinematography.

DVD filmmaker commentaries are such an unsung treasure. Just spent two hours listening to the great Sidney Lumet talk about making Dog Day Afternoon.

First-time watch: The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), on TCM—another triumph for director Robert Aldrich. For me, the MVP of the film is Richard Attenborough, who I had the great pleasure of interviewing in 1985.

Also: Red-Headed Woman, History Is Made at Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, Scarlet Street, A Foreign Affair, No Way Out (1950), The Tall Target, The Narrow Margin (1952), Odds Against Tomorrow. And isn't Blue Velvet overdue?

Generational myopia strikes the Library of Congress. Many of their 2026 selections are fine, but here are some older films that are NOT in the National Film Registry: Out of the Inkwell, Our Hospitality, The Kid Brother, Island of Lost Souls, Design for Living, Easy Living, The Killing...

He probably had himself ‘shot,’ knowing him. Always projecting.

I have a new piece up @thenation.com on Billy Wilder, the Holocaust, survivor's guilt, and confronting the limits of Zionism. www.thenation.com/article/cult...

I’ve always been aware of Artur Rubinstein’s renown as a great pianist, but holy moly, his performance in Edgar G. Ulmer’s Carnegie Hall (1947) is incredible.

On the AFI tribute to Francis Ford Coppola, everyone pronounces his name as Cope-pola. Except for Martin Scorsese, who says ‘Copp-ola.’ Who’s correct?

I strongly suspect those rude RSV commercials (the ones where happy old folks are cut off mid-sentence) were created by some smug, sadistic Millennial a-hole. Your day will come, bud.

Movie discovery of the week: Madame X (1937) on TCM, with a rare lead performance by the great Gladys George. She knocks it out of the park.

It’s so crazy that when I interviewed director Mira Nair in 1992, her infant son—Zohran Mamdani—was in the room.

Classified information? What classified information? The Trump gang is being especially Orwellian today.

The time has come to revisit classics I saw in my early 20s that have faded from memory. So glad I returned to the wonderful Closely Watched Trains, from 1966. It’s part of The Criterion Channel’s Czech New Wave collection.

First-time watch: Patterns, the excellent film version of Rod Serling’s 1955 teleplay about business ethics. Don’t tell me it’s not just as relevant 70 years later.

Pass it on. #StandWithUkraine

Trump and Vance don’t deserve to lick Zelenskyy’s muddy boots.

Even more relevant now than when I bought this t-shirt.

You really can just email Elon Musk at [email protected]

Discovery of the day: Archie Mayo’s Black Legion (1937), part of TCM’s ‘How to Fight Nazis’ series and eerily relevant.

Personal movie discovery of the week: The Flame of New Orleans, a delightful Marlene Dietrich comedy directed by Rene Clair, on Criterion Channel.

Movies are my balm for the dreaded year ahead. In the first 48 hours of 2025 we watched The Bitter Tears of General Yen, Rain, Three Strangers, Mildred Pierce (and the Carol Burnett parody, Mildred Fierce), Captain Fantastic, Grey Gardens (2009), and RoboCop (1987).

Just posted my top ten films of 2024—with lots of runners-up!

Has anyone else noticed how many guests on TV news programs begin their responses to questions with ‘I mean’? When did this become commonplace?

‘According to a new poll, 54 percent of voters think President-elect Trump will do a good job upon his return to the White House. So it’s official: Covid causes memory loss.’—Seth Meyers

I’m pleased to announce my first cover story for Cineaste—my interview with writer-director Sean Baker about his Palme d’Or winner ‘Anora.’ Cineaste is old-school, so you need to subscribe to read it. www.cineaste.com

The only reason the Democrats won’t control the House in 2025 is the extreme gerrymandering in North Carolina. What this article doesn’t mention is that the corrupt Supreme Court has struck down reasonable challenges to gerrymandering. The fix is in.

After watching/hearing him make the promotional rounds on Seth Meyers and SmartLess, I’ve realized that Hugh Grant is one of the funniest and drollest people alive.

It’s eternal vigilance time, folks. Like, 24/7.

The Order: A very good, very relevant thriller that few people are talking about. Based on true events!

Why do the Medicare commercials repeat the same pitch twice, as if seniors are too stupid to get it the first time?

YouTube link is the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical feature, The Sugarland Express.

Seen for the first time in 50 years. The very confident start to an amazing career.