 | Lebanon  September 5, 2010 The first hour of Lebanon is some of the most excruciating footage you will ever see in a movie theater. It's a punishing, disturbing experience. Samuel Maoz, the writer/director of Lebanon, was a tank gunner in the June ... more |
 | The American  September 1, 2010 In the first five minutes of The American, popular movie star George Clooney shatters his image. I like actors who shatter their image, -- e.g., Paul Newman in Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill & the Indians (1976) -- but most ... more |
 | Wild Grass August 29, 2010 In Wild Grass 87-year old director Alain Resnais sows his wild oatmeal. Born in 1922 (now 88), Resnais was a paragon of the French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague) in the late 1950s and 1960s. His latest film Wild Grass i ... more |
 | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World August 19, 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a film full of sound and fury signifying WTF. It's slick shtik. It begins with 22-year old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) dating a high school girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), as he's trying ... more |
 | Audio Interview with Tony Macklin on Center Stage August 17, 2010 Center Stage is a weekly radio show that looks at film, music, books, politics and pop culture. The show airs Tuesdays at 7PM (PST) on KXLU Los Angeles, 88.9 FM and streaming on the web at kxlu.com. Earli ... more |
 | Get Low August 14, 2010 Robert Duvall is an acting treasure. The 79-year old actor has had some of the most memorable roles in American movie history -- often as a supporting actor. He played Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Major Frank ... more |
 | Dinner for Schmucks  August 7, 2010 Rodents have often been the stuff of comedy. From Mickey and Minnie to Mighty Mouse to Remy the Rat to Despereaux, they've made us smile. In Dinner for Schmucks they're the stuff that dreams are made of. Barry (Steve ... more |
 | Salt July 28, 2010 Movies manipulate. They can get you to identify with a character or root for an action. Alfred Hitchcock, with stylistic aplomb, was the master of manipulation. Hitch could play on his audience's expectations. He could even get ... more |
 | Inception July 20, 2010 Inception is a slick, spasmodic, rambunctious ordeal. It's a convoluted wild-goose-dream chase. It's stylistically audacious, but the content lags far behind. Even though it's been promoted as a movie for the brain. I ... more |
 | The Kids are All Right July 16, 2010 The Kids Are All Right is a sudsy soap opera. It's a concoction of lilac water and spermatozoa -- with lots of wine and whine. The Kids Are All Right is the story of a contemporary lesbian family. When the two children -- ... more |
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Tony Macklin is a freelance film critic. A current member of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, he is a former film and literature professor at the University of Dayton, and the former editor of the filmcrit magazine Film Heritage. His articles and reviews have been most recently featured at Rotten Tomatoes and The Internet Movie Database, as well as in the Bright Lights Film Journal and The Fayetteville Free Weekly.
Tony's well-received book, Voices from the Set: The Film Heritage Interviews (2000), includes his 1970s interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Martin Scorsese, Alan Rudolph, Robert Altman, Sam Peckinpah, John Wayne, Edith Head, Stockard Channing, Richard Baskin, and others. It's an excellent read for anyone who loves film.
Since 1972, and in every decade since, Tony's picks for best films of all time have been included in the British Film Institute's Critics' Top 10 Poll. Published in BFI's international film magazine, Sight and Sound, the most recent Critics' Top 10 Poll was published in 2002.
Tony's votes are also included in the American Film Institute's lists of bests, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Comedies, 100 Greatest Movies, and more.