Our critic’s game plan for TCM Fest 2014

Film
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Ramping up for the opening night of TCM Fest, we heard from our intrepid film critic Robert Koehler, who plans his festival as follows: I’m putting an emphasis on the world premiere restorations.The festival happens to slotting a few of these directly opposite each other on Saturday, when the vast majority of them are screening. ...

Jack Cole’s top ten list 3

Dance · Film
Film zany Michael Schlesinger enjoyed ribbing me with this ‘top-ten list’ he conjured for arts•meme: Top ten things choreographer Jack Cole liked about Christmas 10) Holiday spectaculars at Radio City Music Hall — boy, can them Rockettes kick or what? 9) People telling me how much they love “The Christmas Song.” (Oh, wait, sorry, that’s ...

Remembering Kevin McCarthy 4

Film
Guest writer Michael Schlesinger contributes this reminiscence of actor Kevin McCarthy, who died earlier this week. I met Kevin McCarthy through our mutual friend, actor James Karen; we sometimes all had lunch at Musso & Frank’s. And it turned out that Kevin lived a few blocks from me in Sherman Oaks, so I happily chauffeured ...

C’era una volta il West (1968)

Film
Concerning Sergio Leone’s epic masterpiece, “Once Upon a Time in the West,” what can a mere mortal possibly say? The scope, ambition, and perfection of this movie are of such gigantic proportion that it quashes idle chatter. You simply have to see it. It’s my good fortune to live in Los Angeles where this film-of-all-films was properly ...