Staff writer and former film critic of The New Yorker 1998 - 2014 and New York Magazine 1978 - 1998
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The Silence of the Lambs 1991
A shockingly powerful thriller, directed by Jonathan Dcmmc. The material, which Ted Talley has faithfully adapted from Thomas Harris's hard-driving bestseller, is eerie and sinister, with some dismaying clinical stuff and a few scenes that are morally questionable. But if Lambs doesn't touch on your specific fears — and if you don't spook easily — you should find it thrilling. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young FBI trainee, is sent by her boss and mentor, Crawford (Scott Glenn), to interview…
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GoodFellas 1990
The greatest film ever made about the sensual and monetary lure of crime. Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi have adapted Pileggi's 1985 nonfiction account (Wiseguy) of the life and not-very-hard times of real-life mafioso Henry Hill, who grew up in the mob, prospered, and after getting caught up in selling and taking drugs, was arrested by the Feds. The movie is a true hybrid, combining the packed factuality of journalism with the excitements of pace, humor, and violence that only…
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Do the Right Thing 1989
In "Do The Right Thing," Spike Lee does the right thing, the wrong thing, and finally rightfully everything.
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Do the Right Thing 1989
"He's Gotta Have It" by David Denby June 26, 1989
In Do The Right Thing (opening on June 30), filmmaker Spike Lee does the right thing, the wrong thing, and finally everything. This immensely skillful, humane, and richly detailed movie about racism in New York suffers from trying to satisfy everyone - black, white, middle class, and “street.” It’s a comedy that ends in tragedy; a spectacle of black victimization by whites and white victimization by blacks; a demonstration of…
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