CLASSIC REVIEW: ‘Apollo 13′

Part of a continuous series of classic film reviews from some of the most eloquent, hilarious film critics from yesterday and today.

At some point, I’ll do a list of the Top 10 Movies That Celebrate Everything That Was Awesome About the United States, and when I do that, “Apollo 13″ will be on it.

CLASSIC REVIEW: ‘The Wild Angels’ and other biker movies

Part of a continuous series of classic film reviews from some of the most eloquent, hilarious film critics from yesterday and today.

I crossed this mini-review while reading Joan Didion’s fantastic book of essays about the ’60s, “The White Album.” She’s the consummate California writer and analyst, and she’s been involved with film productions. (She wrote with her now-deceased husband the very good drug film, “The Panic in Needle Park,” starring Al Pacino in 1971.) By the time I finished the review, which totals about three pages, I was somewhat blown away even though I thought Didion may have missed the point in her desire to absorb and understand the biker-movie genre of the late ’60s. Most film critics color inside the same lines. Their reviews are organized and shaped the same way, and a film critic’s reputation is based primarily on how well he or she performs within this shared structure. That structure, over the last 50 years or so, has been defined by newspapers.

CLASSIC REVIEW: The work of Stanley Kubrick

Part of a continuous series of classic film reviews from some of the most eloquent, hilarious film critics from yesterday and today.

I am jealous of Andrew Sarris, the dean of American film criticism. Some of you may have read his stuff over the last few decades in The Village Voice and most recently in The New York Observer (until the Observer decided it didn’t have enough money to pay him). But the man has got a pretty insane advantage of every critic out there.

CLASSIC REVIEW: ‘Adaptation’

Part of a continuous series of classic film reviews from some of the most eloquent, hilarious film critics from yesterday and today.

I started this “classic reviews” collection to highlight “classic reviews.”

Now, I’m thinking I started it just so I could post Stephen Hunter reviews to Cribbster.

CLASSIC REVIEW: ‘Dandelion’

Part of a continuous series of classic film reviews from some of the most eloquent, hilarious film critics from yesterday and today.

I stumbled upon “Dandelion” one day on Netflix and liked the poster (not the one pictured above), so I watched the trailer. It’s beautifully shot by Tim Orr, who does all of David Gordon Green’s movies and is one of the more in-demand cinematographers in Hollywood. He’s very good shooting Southern stuff in a Terrence Malick sort of way. Plus, Taryn Manning, one of the industry’s most under-appreciated actors, is one of the leads. She’s just really, really good and can play these kinds of white trash roles with an unmatched balance of credibility and heartwarming cuteness.