Paul Thomas Anderson's charming dream of the '70s sends me back in time
Plus a fistful of reviews including BEING THE RICARDOS and RED ROCKET
It’s Friday, December 3rd, and here’s where we are…
My disordered brain enjoys it when things are running properly and for the first time in a while, it feels like I’ve got this newsletter running on a schedule I actually can maintain in a way that makes me happy.
I saw both Nightmare Alley and West Side Story this week, and both of them deserve more consideration than a quick tossed-off tweet or a passing verdict. I will admit, though, before I even engage with them how depressed I am that both of them are remakes. I know Nightmare Alley is more of a new adaptation of the novel than a straight remake of the first film, but that’s splitting hairs. In general, my frustration at the state of this industry has never been more pronounced than it is right now. I’ve been in Los Angeles since 1990, and it feels like this is the first time I genuinely do not know what to make of the state of things. I can’t begrudge anyone who is following their artistic heart, but the system is so clogged with sequels and reboots and remakes that even when you’ve got artists as terrific as Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro working in the form, the sheer omnipresence of all of it makes it feel like our entire culture is a big fat game of karaoke right now, and it makes me want to howl.
One thing that made both films feel special was seeing them theatrically. I went to the Zanuck Theater on the Fox lot to see West Side Story, and I went to the Academy Museum theater for Nightmare Alley. Both are excellent venues, with absolutely top-notch sound and picture, and both films feel like they rewarded the effort. More than ever, though, I’m aware of the disparity between that experience and the experience that is offered to moviegoers around the country and, indeed, around the world. I am spoiled rotten with the choices I have in my area, even after the pandemic knocked some of my favorite screens out of the rotation. For many people, there’s been no return to the theater. The latest studies show that half of the pre-pandemic audience has yet to go back for even a single theatrical screening, and that statistic should scare the living shit out of the industry unless they are truly willing to change.
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