By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Moscow, Belgium; He’s Not That Into You; The International, Taken; Taking Chance; Ugly Betty; The Closer; and Damages, but first: *** FAN MAIL: Thanks for the nice comments about my grandson and Lawrence. Hokahey mentioned teaching a unit on American Film H...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Teaching the Young, Minsky’s (stage musical), Definitely, Maybe, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, In Old Chicago, ER, Two and a Half Men, The Closer, Burn Notice, but first: *** FAN MAIL: A nice collection of comments on US#18. I will bow to R.A. Porter’s exp...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Gran Torino, Revolutionary Road, The Man Between, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ugly Betty, CSI, Burn Notice, The Closer, Monk, and Trust Me, but first: *** FAN MAIL: I agree with Harvey Jerkwater that there is great laconic dialogue ...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Slumdog Millionaire, Dodge City, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station, His Nibs, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI, ER, but first: *** FAN MAIL: Several interesting issues this time around. Both Andrew and Kevin ...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Seven Days to Noon, Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Privileged, 30 Rock, and Damages, but first: *** FAN MAIL: Matt Maul raises the question of Robert Wise’s complicity in the gutting of...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Bedtime Stories, Last Chance Harvey, Valkyrie, Waltz With Bashir, Meet Me In St. Louis, Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Them!, and Jumper, but first: *** FAN MAIL: Matt Zoller Seitz, I figured you were kidding about the suggestion of using the Lubitsch...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: The Reader, Milk, The Day the Earth Stood Still, two Librarian films, but first: *** FAN MAIL: As usual, the discussion among the readership on Novak and Vertigo was fascinating, especially the nuances of the actor-director relationship that several commenter...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Four Christmases, Australia, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, Boston Legal, CSI, and the Budd Boetticher DVD Box Set, but first: FAN MAIL: “Tom� took exception to my comments in US#12 about Kim Novak’s performance in Vertigo. He thinks it’s “not bad,� since t...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: John Michael Hayes, Quantum of Solace, Boomerang!, Boston Legal, Law & Order, Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives, The Twilight premiere and opening. *** JOHN MICHAEL HAYES (1919-2008): An appreciation. Screenwriter John Michael Hayes died November 1...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Changeling, I’ve Loved You So Long, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, ER, 30 Rock, Some Quick Sweeps Updates, and Trailers, but first: *** FAN MAIL: I can appreciate theoldboy’s disappointment that I did not deal with the opening monologue in Crash. I often hav...