Dear Cinephiles, “I don’t want realism. I want magic!” One of the greatest plays of all time was successfully adapted into film: “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) is exemplary and even if you’ve seen a production of Tennessee Williams’ drama, the movie version is...
Dear Cinephiles, “I like it here. It’s safe.” I like the full spectrum of cinema. I like the high-brow stuff – diving into profound subjects that startle me and keep me on my toes. I also like commercial fare. I like escapism – the idea of disconnecting and letting...
Dear Cinephiles, “It’s land Sandra, going to waste. Use it. Build a house for you and your girls.” If life as you know it is crumbling around you and you need to rebuild its foundation – not just for your own sake but for your children’s, why not go and literally...
Dear Cinephiles, Clyde Barrow: “You know what you done there? You told my story, you told my whole story right there, right there. One time, I told you I was gonna make you somebody. That’s what you done for me. You made me somebody they’re gonna...
Dear Cinephiles, “You’re aware of all your behavior yet you continue doing things that aren’t good for you. That sounds sort of foolish.” People who love each other and spend a lot of time together develop a banter between them that if witnessed by outsiders would...
Dear Cinephiles, “At times, life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and painful moments. Like the ever-flowing water of a river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the...
Dear Cinephiles, “You see the important thing is the rhythm. You must always have rhythm in your shaking. Now, a Manhattan, you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time. The dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” As someone who loves shaking cocktails as...
Dear Cinephiles, “You cannot capture a man’s entire life in two hours. All you can hope is to leave the impression of one.“ A few weeks back I wrote to you about Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” (1941) and its importance. I also mentioned that I would recommend you...
Dear Cinephiles, Mr. Green: “Have you come here to hurt me?” Cassie: “Do you want me to hurt you?” “Promising Young Woman” (2020) is going to entertain and keep you riveted as it makes unexpected turns, but it’s going to definitely make you feel uncomfortable at...
Dear Cinephiles, “You ain’t dealt me no cards in a long time. It’s beginning to look like you got things fixed so I can’t never win out. Inside, outside, all of them… rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I...
Dear Cinephiles, “I’m a ballplayer.” I’ve talked to you about movies that I love and then watch again only to find my admiration grow. But recently I got to sit down to revisit “Love & Basketball” (2000), a film that I had seen and gave a passing grade when it...
Dear Cinephiles, Karen: “I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn’t. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on.” It is exhilarating – and it’s a continuous...
Dear Cinephiles, “There’s a cure for everything – except death.” Vittorio DeSica’s “Bicycle Thieves” (1948) is another film that every serious cinephile needs to have checked out at least once. This film has not aged a bit. The opposite. Given the heightened poverty...
Dear Cinephiles, “And remember don’t give your heart to any boys. You’re mine. until you get married. Then you’re still mine.” Early in Sofia Coppola’s newest gift (and yes, I consider new films from my top five directors to be gifts) Felix, an irrepressible Bill...
Dear Cinephiles, “I’ve never healed anything this bad before, it’s going to take time.” The idea that we cannot find commonality, that we have to destroy what we don’t understand or don’t like – that instead, we should unite to help our neighbors – to combat fear and...
Dear Cinephiles, “Do you ever feel your life has turned into something you never intended?” Tom Ford is a great designer – but the man also knows his cinema, and how to make good movies. I’ve been frustrated that he’s only made two – but they’re both exemplary....
Dear Cinephiles, ‘The blues help you get out of bed in the morning. You get up knowing you ain’t alone. There’s something else in the world. Something’s been added by that song. This be an empty world without the blues.’ – Ma Rainey...
Dear Cinephiles, Ali: “Why do you cry?” Emmi: “Because I’m so happy on the one hand, and on the other I can’t bear it anymore. All this hatred from everyone. I always pretend I don’t care, but I do.” Rainer Werner Fassbinder has always had a special place in my...
Dear Cinephiles, Professor Siletsky : “I wonder if you really know what Nazism really stands for?” Maria Tura : “I have a slight idea” Professor Siletsky : “In the final analysis, all we’re trying to do is create a happy world.” Maria Tura : “And people who...
Dear Cinephiles, Andy Dufresne: “There are places in this world that aren’t made out of stone. That there’s something inside… that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.” Red: “What’re you talking about?”...
Dear Cinephiles, Su Li-zhen Chan : “You notice things if you pay attention.” Heed that wisdom. “In the Mood for Love” (2000) by maestro Wong Kar-wai is on my top-ten. The list shifts, but this one always remains in it. I’m not alone in claiming this film to be one of...
Dear Cinephiles, Will : “My life is made up of units of time. Buying CDs – two units. Eating lunch – three units. Exercising – two units. All in all, I had a very full life. It’s just that it didn’t mean anything.” Evolving is not an easy...
Dear Cinephiles, “Eddie and Jean met and fell in love. Eddie and Jean got married and bought a house. Eddie and Jean were gonna have a kid but didn’t. So, every morning, Eddie kisses Jean, Eddie leaves the house, and Jean’s alone.” There’s quite a dazzling moment in...
Dear Cinephiles, “It’s been a long A long time coming But I know a change gonna come Oh, yes it will” Watching Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke singing “A Change is Gonna Come” at the denouement of Regina King’s transcendental directorial debut “One Night in Miami”...
Dear Cinephiles, “I came to Paris to study and to paint, because Utrillo did, and Lautrec did, and Roualt did. I loved what they created and I thought something would happen to me too. Well, it happened all right. Now, what have I got left? Paris. Maybe that’s...
Dear Cinephiles, Marmee March : [reading Father March’s letter] “Give them all my dear love and a kiss. Tell them I think of them by day, pray for them by night and find my best comfort in their affection at all times. A year seems a very long time to wait...
Dear Cinephiles, “Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.” Think for a second about that sentiment expressed in “A Christmas...
Dear Cinephiles, Robert: “Life’s too short to waste time on things you don’t absolutely love.” Sylvie: “But how do you know if you love something absolutely?” Robert: “I guess when it’s the only thing that matters.” Eugene Ashe’s “Sylvie’s Love” (2020) is the most...
Dear Cinephiles, Prime Minister : “General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s...
Dear Cinephiles, “I wonder, uh, all these mornings you’ve been sitting in my study, sitting, have you had any moments of stillness? Because you’re right, Ruben. The world does keep moving, and it can be a damn cruel place. But for me, those moments of...
