“Slashing its way to the finish line, Black Swan is the first ballet movie for highbrow horror fans for whom ballet itself signifies little to nothing. Those of us who know and love ballet can only look on it with a different kind of horror.” KnowsWayFirstsLooksKindLittlesDifferentBlackLinesFansHorrorAnd LoveBalletDifferent KindsSwansFinish LineBlack SwanHorror Fans Author:James Wolcott
“A typical 'Larry King Live' is a pastiche whose absurdism defies parody. Wearing his trademark suspenders and purple shirts, he looks as if he's strapped to the chair with vertical seat belts, unable to eject.” IfsLooksKingsShirtsSeatsChairsTypicalPurpleBeltsLarryParodyVerticalTrademarksSeat BeltsPasticheSuspenders Author:James Wolcott
“Feature-length film comedy is harder to pull off than the episodic sitcom - it doesn't have the same factory machinery up and running, teams of writers putting familiar characters through permutations - but that doesn't explain the widening quality gap that makes movie humor look like a genetic defective.” LooksCharacterRunningFilmQualityComedyTeamHarderFamiliarFeaturesLengthGapsFactoriesMachinerySitcomDefective Author:James Wolcott
“In the voyeurism of Reality TV, the viewer's passivity is kept intact, pampered and massaged and force-fed Chicken McNuggets of carefully edited snippets that permit him or her to sit in easy judgment and feel superior at watching familiar strangers make fools of themselves. Reality TV looks in only one direction: down.” FeelsLooksRealityForceEasyTvsFoolJudgmentStrangerFamiliarSuperiorsFedsChickensPermitViewersOne DirectionReality TvPassivityEditedPamperedPassivity Is Author:James Wolcott
“Whenever I catch a chunk of an Adam Sandler comedy on cable, it looks as badly shot and goofily tossed off as a Jerry Lewis gag reel once he hit the late downslide with 'Hardly Working' and 'Cracking Up.'” LooksComedyLateShotsAdamCablesJerryChunksGagsCracking Up Author:James Wolcott
