Rich Heldenfels, Pop Culture Wanderer

  I have read, and re-read, and re-re-read, Nora Ephron  a lot, in the copies I have of three of her books:   Wallflower at the Orgy, Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble. This should give you an idea of how long I have had those books. Just look at that price tag on one of the paperbacks: These books hold such Ephron gems as "A Few Words About Breasts," one of her most famous works; her scathing consideration of Deep Throat, which included a can't-you-see-this observation I have never forgotten; "The Making of Theodore H. White"; "A Rhinestone in a Trash Can," which argued convincingly that Jacqueline Susann's "trash is better than it has been made out to be." And more. You should read them, and later collections such as I Remember Nothing, and I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, or dive into the selections from all of the above in the massive The MOST of Nora Ephron, released after her death in 2012. Of c...

Reports say Steven Spielberg doesn't like movies streaming. I  believe in seeing movies in theaters (I saw a beautiful presentation of “Cold War” at the Nightlight not long ago), on disc and streaming at home. In some cases, streaming is the only convenient way to see a film. You cannot even be sure that the remaining video stores (for which I am grateful) will stock much of art films; my local store had one copy each of “The Wife” and “At Eternity’s Gate” amid rows of commercial fare. So bite me, Spielberg. 

About three dozen feature films are nominated for Oscars this yea r, just over 10 percent of the 347 movies that were eligible.  The nominations themselves lead to talk about snubs and inconsistencies, some self-inflicted: how can you have 10 best picture nominees and then only five nominations for best director? How are Mahershala Ali of Green Book , and Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, both of The Favourite,  all in supporting-acting categories when clearly they are leads in their films? (Indeed, I'd argue that in most respects Olivia Colman, nominated for best actress for The Favourite could have been put in supporting instead.) Still, beyond what we say about the nominations themselves, every year I find myself with a list of movies that received no Oscar love at all. (I talked last year about some of the reasons for this .) In a year where the academy's best-picture contenders suggest diversity in Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Green Book  and Roma, it's important...