Back in November, the New Yorker ran a profile of star stand-up and sometime auteur Chris Rock. The article framed the then-pending release of Top Five–Rock’s latest in an erratic series of bids for crossover film-stardom–as the comedian’s last chance to “crack” Hollywood and package himself as a leading man. The bulk of Rock’s quotes in the piece are characterized by what sounds like a consciously curtailed optimism: “Even if the movie doesn’t make a dime,” he says, “I’ve figured out the tone of movie I should be in.” Continue reading Top Five: Shake Well. Serve Immediately
All posts by Ava Geyer
Foxcatcher: Psych 101, Closed Notes
Director Bennett Miller’s latest film, Foxcatcher—starring Steve Carell in an against-type role already vigorously generating Oscar buzz—is billed as a psychological thriller. Continue reading Foxcatcher: Psych 101, Closed Notes
The Newsroom Season Three: Don’t Overthink It
I’ve always defended The Newsroom.
Continue reading The Newsroom Season Three: Don’t Overthink It
Ava Geyer on Mark Hanna
Sleepless in Seattle: Boy Meets Skeptic
“You don’t wanna be in love. You wanna be in love in a movie.” Nora Ephron wrote that line. And put it in a movie. The fact that Rosie O’Donnell—as confidante and close friend Becky in 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle, released this month on Netflix—can bark that line at a misty-eyed Meg Ryan without setting off alarm bells of scriptwriting self-consciousness is, perhaps, impressive. In the world of Sleepless there’s a lot of talk (period) and a lot of talk of romance in particular: degrees, gradations, how do you know, and how do you know you know. This chattiness is largely due to the film’s central plot conceit: it’s a love story where boy doesn’t meet girl until the final frames. Time that would be filled by first dates and lovers’ quarrels is, in Sleepless, mainly devoted to wondering. Continue reading Sleepless in Seattle: Boy Meets Skeptic