David Edelstein

Emily Blunt Is Not Your Typical English Rose And Other Culture Highlights From This Week's New York

Vulture (Free subscription) | yesterday

Emma Rosenblum talks to Emily Blunt about her role in The Young Victoria , but not about Michael Bublé. Logan Hill previews nine of the biggest movies opening during the holidays this year. Logan also wonders if both Colin Farrell and Jude Law would be better off just sticking with supporting roles . David Edelstein reviews Broken Embraces , Mammoth and New Moon . Jerry Saltz describes the...

Thirty-Four Ways New Moon the Movie Is Better Than New Moon the Book

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009

Last year, Twilight proved to zillions of shrieking Twi-hards that no matter how passionately you love a florid, overwritten, hilarious book, the movie can be even better . How will this year's installment, New Moon , fare with a new director (the non-vagina-having Chris Weitz) and a new love interest (Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner)? Good news! Once again, Hollywood magic has delivered a version...

David Edelstein On the Slowed-Down Pace of New Moon

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009

Over on The Projectionist, New York film critic David Edelstein reveals his thoughts on the movie that opens a mere eight hours and 50 minutes from now, New Moon . He admires the frenzy that happens every time Edward and Bella come together onscreen, but also notes that "[Director Chris] Weitz’s compositions have no spark, though, and his pacing is so flaccid that you’re going to...

Why Middle-Aged Moms Swoon for Twilight and Other Culture Highlights From This Week’s New York

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009

In this week's magazine, Em & Lo explore the smart, sophisticated, and well-read mothers who cannot get enough of the Twilight saga. Sam Anderson explores whether or not Vladimir Nabokov wanted us to read his last novel. Dan Kois talks with both Liv Ullman and Cate Blanchett about their production of A Streetcar Named Desire , coming to BAM at the end of the month. David Edelstein reviews The...

From the wonderful Daily Beast: Each week...

Beattie's Book Blog (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009

From the wonderful Daily Beast: Each week, The Daily Beast scours the cultural landscape to choose three top picks. This week, Wes Anderson's magical Fantastic Mr.Fox , a provocative Man Ray retrospective, and the Newport Jazz Festival goes digital. Director Wes Anderson's movies—Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic—have become some of the most beloved independent films...

Overheard at Precious in Harlem

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009

Despite the earnest warnings of Armond White and New York 's David Edelstein , moviegoers in nine cities descended on their local multiplexes over the weekend in large enough numbers to give Lee Daniels's Oprah-backed Precious an incredible $100,000 per-screen average, the highest ever for a film at more than six locations . But what did they think about the Oscar contender that some have feared might...

Edelstein on 2012

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009

Over at the Projectionist, New York 's David Edelstein reviews Roland Emmerich's 2012 : "The disaster genre is inherently junky, and not every end-of-civilization picture has to be as exhaustingly grim as the coming The Road . But 2012 rides in on and reinforces an especially idiotic wave of evangelical doomsday predictions with supposed roots in the Mayan calendar, and it’s too trivial...

White on Precious + College for Fewer + CC Reading + AAWW Awards

J's Theater (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009

I haven't seen Precious yet. I'm torn; on the one hand I feel I ought to see it, and on the other hand...I recall Sapphire 's extremely disturbing book, Push , which it took every fiber inside me to get through. (And yet the other night Mariah Carey told Larry King she read it twice. Really? Okay. ) I had some issues with the novel, but on the whole I felt the author was telling a story that she felt...

Neil Kellerhouse on The House of the Devil’s Arty, Retro Posters

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009

Halloween's a memory, but Ti West’s The House of the Devil — which David Edelstein, writing on The Projectionist , recommends as an "ode to seventies gothic, female-oriented horror films in which less is more" — keeps chugging away at the Angelika . In August, Vulture debuted the movie's pitch-perfect first poster; recently, Magnolia Pictures released four more web-only...

Why NBC Deserves Better Than Jeff Zucker, and Other Culture Highlights From This Week’s New York

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009

Mark Harris pleads for someone, anyone , to save NBC . Emma Rosenblum chats with Zach Gifford , currently in the midst of his last season as Dillon High's quarterback on Friday Night Lights . David Edelstein reviews Fantastic Mr. Fox and Red Cliff . Logan Hill explores how Nicolas Coppola became Nic Cage , and he also talks to Tim Burton about his new exhibit at MoMA. Boris Kachka has a conversation...

Gold Derby nuggets: 'Precious' metal could be gold | 'From Here to Eternity' lives on | AFI Fest honors new filmmakers

Gold Derby (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009

• Dave Karger thinks "Precious" has a shot at landing at least five Oscar nods -- best picture, director, actress, supporting actress and screenplay. And he thinks, "Once people get past the strange concept of [Mariah] Carey as an Oscar contender, they won’t be able to deny the power of her few scenes as a social worker. If you ask me, she more than deserves to be in this...

Oscar Futures: Precious Arrives — With a Backlash?

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009

Every week between now and February 2, when the nominations are announced, movies and stars will help themselves — or, sometimes, hurt themselves — in the Oscar race. Vulture's Oscar Futures will listen to insider gossip, comb the blogs, and out-and-out guess when necessary to track who's up, who's down, and who's currently leading the race for a coveted nomination. Best Picture UP: Precious...

Armond White: Precious Worse Than Norbit

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009

With The New Yorker 's Anthony Lane and this magazine's David Edelstein already bucking critical status quo with mixed-negative assessments of Lee Daniels' Oscar-contending, Oprah-endorsed Precious , famed New York Press contrarian Armond White must've known he had his work cut out for him. His review went up this afternoon, though, and it does not disappoint! "Shame on Tyer Perry and Oprah Winfrey,"...

• Armond White and PRECIOUS - The Moviezzz Blog

Fox Searchlight Halts National Rollout of Gentlemen Broncos

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009

After experiencing great success with each of his first two feature films, it appears as if director Jared Hess has hit a bit of a stumbling block with his third picture, Gentlemen Broncos . The movie was generally savaged by reviewers upon its limited release in New York and L.A. last weekend — although New York 's own David Edelstein did describe it as being "enchantingly freakish"...

The TV Cougar: A History, and Other Culture Highlights From This Week’s New York

Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009

In this week's magazine, Emily Nussbaum traces the history of the TV cougar , from Samantha Jones to Cougar Town . Tim Murphy spends 93 minutes with Lynn Redgrave . Andrew Marantz talks to the apocalypse experts Sony recruited to help sell 2012 . Justin Davidson tells us how New York is sneaking great new buildings into tiny, unexpected places . David Edelstein reviews Precious . Logan Hill interviews...