People can get touchy around these topics, to be sure. You did, however, "move the goalposts," from "best" to "high grossing" (either that, or your implied definition of "best" is not at all clear).

Well, I mentioned NH and KR because they're two of my personal favorites, but what are the "obvious" reasons? Not trying to be pissy, and I love the works of both Andersons (the two in question anyway), but I don't know what makes a W. Anderson quirk-fest about well-to-do white people and their "problems" (and I say…

A lot of that stuff, though, was considered kid-stuff, at least pre-1990s and the ensuing cushioning of children's experiences in America. Kids' stories from the Brothers Grimm through Bugs Bunny have traditionally been pretty brutal in terms of violence, and even in that sort of existential "everybody dies, kid, get…

To be fair, in the first movie (which I love) a good portion of Hamill's line readings are painful on screen, too.

Exposition is okay when it also works to develop character and/or narrative. When Obi Wan dumps all that info on Luke, he's also providing Luke with motivation (one that will develop in intriguing ways throughout the series) and creating a bond between the two characters ("I knew your father"). There's also the fact…

It's a lot of fun, until it's not. The premise can't really hold though the climax, but up until about the last 20 minutes or so, it's great. And Michelle Pfeiffer is working her full-on mid-90s yowza!

Also, I think I remember hearing that Ryder owed a commitment to Coppola after dropping out of Godfather III, so there may have been an extra layer of contractual obligation involved.

Or the trailer could be using a bit of misdirection. And they both seem entranced by what Han's saying about the "old days." I wouldn't count out anything yet . . .

I love Enzo's shaking hands. I think Enzo is the bravest character in the entire trilogy.

Yeah, I especially like the way he gives props to Ballhaus and Liotta for their contributions. You always hear the shot described as Scorsese Scorsese Scorsese (which, he did come up with the idea), but without those three, it's a completely different thing altogether.

I like that the Godfather films are willing to shut the fuck up every once in a while. For every Sonny rant, there's a scene like the one with Michael and Enzo the baker outside the hospital watching the cars drive up, then pull away. So much going on, but it doesn't have to be shouted out, "fuckity fuck fuck fuck!!!"

I love Goodfellas and Scorsese is justly praised for so much of what makes it brilliant. But it's probably worth mentioning that he had a LOT of help "devising" the Copa shot - not just figuring out the mechanics of it, but in the actual decision making about what happens during the sequence.

Interesting title. The "Angel Makers" also refers to a group of Hungarian women from the town of Nagyrév, from around the same time. When their husbands went off to fight WWI, they felt emancipated, free of often abusive, alcoholic men. They also took lovers from a nearby POW camp. Then their husbands returned,…

I think I've told this story here before - way back in 1990 when I was wee tyke of a college student, Joe Biden was scheduled to give a talk at my school. Then the lead up to the Gulf War happened. Turns out, Biden's speech was scheduled the night before the Senate's vote on giving Bush 1 the approval to go.

It reminded me a bit of classic Dick Cavett - a bit of humor, but really, let the interview ride for a while, see where it goes when the person opens up, and then run with it. More of this on American TV (late night or otherwise) would be a wonderful thing.

I'm in Ireland and it's all Trump, all the time, with a smattering of Hillary news.

I'd probably argue the opposite - at least up to this point in time. Pinning down what makes a specific genre is difficult (even more so, what makes a genre so appealing to a wide audience at any given time). But the Western was highly versatile - it allowed filmmakers to explore a huge number of issues related to…

I remember Edge of Night, barely . . . I think the guy who played Schulyer went on to play a major role on GL, no?

The big battle in my house - in the '80s - was between GH (my sister's choice) and Guiding Light (mine), both of which started at 3pm, about 20 min or so after we'd get home from school.

Feist also has some pretty cool one-shots, in a variety of styles. "I Feel it All" is pretty simple in a way, but so much fun to watch . . .