Tag

Academy Award Nominations

Criticals, Current Affairs, Film, Short Cuts

More Oscar Bait!

February 10, 2013

Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, director). Two zanies meet cute, overcome a boatload of wacky complications to find love. The setup sounds like a plot spun from the delicious mind of a Preston Sturges or Howard Hawks. Russell, returning to the brand of comedy he minted in such films as Spanking the Monkey…

Film, Music, My back pages, Vespers

Dory Previn, Lyricist, 1925-2012

February 16, 2012

All ten year-old tragedians need a soundtrack. Mine was the Theme from Valley of the Dolls, that heartbreaking ballad from the film that starred Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate and Patty Duke. I had no idea that the song was meant to underscore the film heroine’s descent into pill addiction (I thought Parkins, Tate and…