Max’s View
Yesterday
Max’s Review Yesterday (3 Stars) “Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust.” —The Clash, “London Calling” Imagine a world without the Beatles. It isn’t hard to do. Every older person reading this column knows who Bing Crosby is. He was the most popular recording artist in America for more than a decade and a movie star to boot. Now, young people may k...
The Third Man (1949)
Now on Netflix (4 stars) Austria, 1947: what an interesting place to begin a movie. There was no way to make post-war Vienna look like a happy place even if they wanted to. Bombed-out buildings littered every street. The joy of young love was nowhere to be found because the German-speaking world had been almost wiped clean of young men. Vienna was...
Running With Beto
HBO Documentary **1/2 Why the heck would a rich guy want to run for office? You’ll be out on the road for months, begging for money from people who have way less than you. You’ll be immediately disliked by approximately half of your state. “Running With Beto” showed me that a politician sacrifices even more than I had imagined when he choo...
Rocketman
**1/2 I am a connoisseur of 1970s British rock. If a British band was more popular in the UK than here, I was probably listening. T.Rex, Mott the Hoople, Bowie, Brian Eno, Queen, Elvis Costello, Sex Pistols, Joy Division, The Clash, Wire, Gang of Four… This was not a normal record collection for a Vermont kid coming of age in the 90s. In fact, if...
Booksmart
Four Stars When I talk to other people who grew up in the 20th Century, we are grateful. We had the good fortune to grow up during a time of prosperity and relative unity and sanity. It feels like young adults today are facing more nightmarish problems than we ever had to deal with. It feels possible that the mass movement of people to different co...
Max Abrams Reviews: Studio 54
Now on Netflix: Studio 54 3.5 Stars By Max Abrams I had a lot of friends growing up. I do not mean that as a boast. Quite the opposite. I am ashamed as I think back to all the days of my youth that I spent with jerks, doing things that I thought I should be doing rather than what I actually enjoy. Contrary to what Mark Zuckerberg thinks, hav...
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Now on Demand *** I am a criminal. I have broken the law more times than I can remember. And not just when I drove 70 mph on I89. When I was in my 20s, I went on a date with a mature-looking 19 year old. At the restaurant, I was able to buy her a martini without any problem. I was breaking the law, right? I know the restaurant certainly was. Arou...
Leaving Neverland
*** “Many people are skeptical about the marriage of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Pressley. They say that Lisa Marie is more of a sit at home type, while Michael Jackson is more a homosexual pedophile.” -Norm MacDonald, on Saturday Night Live 1994 “The family that accused Michael Jackson of molesting their child are just in it for the money.”...
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Oscar Winner for Best Animated Film *** There was a media backlash against “Bohemian Rhapsody” for winning the Golden Globe for Best Drama and “Green Book” for winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Backlash is an understatement. It was more like a coordinated firestorm of internet fury. If you google Bohemian Rh...
Now on Demand: Support the Girls
*** I remember this lovely young woman I used to work with many years ago. Her name was Danielle. One time we were talking about a movie preview we had both seen. She stated that the star was James Franco. I corrected her and said it was Hayden Christensen. She smiled at me and didn’t say a word. Months later we were in New York City together, walk...
