Movies
“Who are those guys?”
by David Benjamin “Sundance Kid: I can’t swim! “Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya.” — William Goldman MADISON, Wis.—Once, many moons ago, while researching a book about inventions, I toured a carpet factory in South Carolina. The company was a giant in its industry, with hundreds of non-union…
Read MoreToward a philosophy of the gun
by David Benjamin “Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you’ll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.” —Stephen King MADISON, Wis.—My gun of choice is a .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight. It’s actually the only gun I’ve ever used. It belonged to…
Read More“The tube is flickering now … “
by David Benjamin “When the shouting and tumult dies, the American people and president will realize that the unprecedented mudslinging against the committee by the extreme left-wing elements of press and radio was caused solely because another Fifth Amendment communist was finally dragged out of the dark recesses and exposed to public view.” —Sen.…
Read MoreThe Hinauslehnen Hundred
by David Benjamin “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.” ― Pauline Kael MADISON, Wis.—My favorite movie maven, Nick Hinauslehnen, who publishes a film periodical called Flashback, poses an annual question for readers. This year, he asks, “What movies…
Read MoreVing Rhames saves democracy
by David Benjamin “… I believe God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment…” — Rep. Mike Johnson, after election as Speaker of the House HOLLYWOOD — “I’ve got it! I’ve got it, I’ve GOT it!” Louie “The Lip” Lipset, assistant to one of…
Read MoreThe once and future zombie apocalypse
by David Benjamin “This is the way the world ends; not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.” ― Amanda Hocking, Hollowland PARIS — It has long been one of my items of faith that actor Stanley Tucci has never accepted a bad script. This conviction…
Read MoreWelles’ Law and the Ogden Nash Dilemma
by David Benjamin “What finally saved the movies was the introduction of narrative.” — Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art MADISON, Wis.— Most contemporary writers crib from the movies. I do so voluminously and shamelessly. I grew up watching movies. I was the first kid in my grade to shlep downtown and go to the…
Read MoreI am become Barbie, destroyer of worlds
by David Benjamin “I wanted to do something anarchic and wild and funny and cathartic.” —Greta Gerwig, director, Barbie MADISON, Wis.—You’ve probably heard the joke about Phil the promoter who barges into the office of a showbiz talent scout and says, “Sol, have I got a dynamite act for you! This girl, she’s not…
Read MoreSmart movie comedies you’ve probably never seen
by David Benjamin “One after another, films for grownups have failed…” — Brooks Barnes, New York Times PARIS — My favorite movie genre is the smart comedy, a category born, I believe, with Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 tour de force, Modern Times. The most cohesive and trenchant of Chaplin’s work, Modern Times set a standard…
Read MoreWhy writers talk about movies
By David Benjamin This edition of Write Away was delayed, with the author’s apologies, by travel and Covid-19. Here I discuss a force that has changed, mostly for the better, the very nature of literature—the invention of the motion picture camera. Just as literature before film referred backward to previous writings, mingling old stories with……
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