The Fin

Dec 1, 2006 — We left St-Michel feeling uplifted and took a nice stroll south, past the Closerie des Lilas, the restaurant made famous by Hemingway, and through the Luxembourg gardens, where a film crew was laying dolly tracks and fitting counterweights on a...

Apr 19, 2004 — “Floating weeds, drifting down the leisurely river of our lives,” has long been a favored metaphor in Japanese prose and poetry. This plant, the ukigusa (duckweed in English), floating aimlessly, carried by stronger currents, is seen as emblematic of our...

Nov 11, 2002 — Continued from Anatomy of a Love Festival - Part One The real turn-on, though, was the music—twenty-two hours of it, divided into solid chunks that usually ran more than thirty minutes. Friday night was the epitome of what San Francisco...

Sep 18, 2000 — Serving as codirector with Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard found one of the finest roles of his career in this witty adaptation written by George Bernard Shaw.

Dec 31, 1999 — As a tour de force of screen acting, Autumn Sonata stands unchallenged as the finest work of Ingmar Bergman’s last few years as a movie director. Fanny and Alexander may have won the Oscars, but Autumn Sonata represents Bergman’s chamber...

Whether they shock, delight, or inspire, the final sequences in these films all leave a lasting impression.

The writer, prducer, and performer talks about his revelatory experiences watching Happiness and Trainspotting for the first time, shares why he finds The Last Waltz to be such an emotional and unique documentary, and praises performances by Robert De Niro...

The philosopher names Trouble in Paradise “Ernst Lubitsch’s ultimate masterpiece,” praises Peter Weir’s early films, and calls the final scene of City Lights “the most sublime ending.”

John Simon has written for more than fifty years on theater, film, literature, music, and the fine arts for such publications as the Hudson Review, the New Leader, the New Criterion, the National Review, New York magazine, the New York...

Nov 26, 2018 — The legendary filmmaker possessed the greatest speaking voice in American cinema, and The Magnificent Ambersons represents the summit of his work as a vocal actor.