Hollywood
The Heckler: down with the actor-commentariat!
I’ve never been terribly keen on actors. I prefer hairdressers and accountants. And teachers and builders and lawyers. I may…
No man ever wanted a dumb broad for a wife
As I was flipping through some television garbage trying to induce sleep, I came upon an old western starring Kirk…
How Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic, Blade Runner, foresaw the way we live today
How Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, made 33 years ago, foresaw the way we live today, by William Cook
The King Kong of the thriller: the phenomenal output of Edgar Wallace, once the world’s most popular author
At the time of his death in 1932 Edgar Wallace had published some 200 books, 25 plays, 45 collections of…
Shirley Williams: Saving my mother from the scriptwriters
Jasper Rees talks to Shirley Williams about the forthcoming screen portrayal of her mother
Birdman: plenty to see, little to feel
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton as a one-time superhero movie star (just like Keaton himself), is audacious…
St. Vincent: too much lovability and not enough roguishness from Bill Murray
Is Bill Murray fit for sainthood? Certainly his fans have him figure as some sort of lesser divinity, maybe one…
The battle for decency has been lost
An intelligent letter from a reader, Stanislas Yassukovich CBE, warms my heart. It’s nice to know there are others as…
The accidental wit and wisdom of Samuel Goldwyn
For some of you younger readers the name Schmuel Gelbfisz will not ring a bell. Yet back in the Thirties…
The lefty liberals may be losing their hold over the arts world
If you happen to be reading this column at breakfast, I’d recommend you skip to something more agreeable like Dear…
Tea with Greta Garbo's decorator
Many people write, or at least used to write, fan letters to their film favourites. Usually all they received in…
Want Hollywood's conventional wisdom? Then read Blockbusters
You can learn a lot from this book. Latin America has a smaller economy than Europe. Big companies can spend…
Was Graham Greene right about Shirley Temple?
Shirley Temple, who died last week at the age of 85, was the most successful child film star in history.…
If Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t happy, what hope is there for us?
Celebrity deaths have no decorum. From Elvis on his toilet to Whitney face down in her bathtub, their last moments…
Is Hollywood finally waking up to the talents of women? Nah
Is Hollywood finally waking up to the talents of women directors? Peter Hoskin doubts it
Did Hollywood moguls really make a pact with Hitler?
At the recent Austin Film Festival, at every ruminative panel or round-table discussion I attended, I slapped my copy of…
To 'Flufftail' from 'Pinkpaws': The Animals is only good for celebrity-spotting
The correspondence between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy is good for celebrity-spotting but too cloyingly self-absorbed to be of wider interest, says D. J. Taylor
