Synopses & Reviews
In an aside that reads like a declaration of intent, Anthony Lane writes that he "never quite thrilled to the battle pitched between mainstream and art cinema" which is to say that he glories in highbrow and lowbrow alike, and respectfully suggests that "the ideal literary diet consists of trash and classics...books you can read without thinking, and books you have to read if you want to think at all."
In almost ten years as a critic for The New Yorker, Lane has not only written an indispensable column on the latest movie releases, great and small. He has also turned his gaze upon subjects as various as Evelyn Waugh, Shakespeare, the glory of cookbooks, and the fine art of the obituary. Whether he is examining Alfred Hitchcock or astronauts, to read him is to be carried along on a current of urgent inquiry ("What is the point of Demi Moore?"), wry reflection, and penetrating wit. An essay on The Sound of Music leads him to consider not only singing nuns but the comedy of our cultural memories ("For all our searchings and suppressings, the past comes unbidden or not at all"); his now infamous pieces on the best-seller lists both celebrate the exultantly bad prose of Judith Krantz and deride the "marshes of the middlebrow, where serious novelists lumber around with too many ideas on their back." His writings on the poetry of Matthew Arnold, A. E. Housman, and especially T. S. Eliot showcase his erudition, dispensed with a piercing insight into human folly. In his survey of events as disparate as Oscar night, a Walker Evans retrospective, and the craziness of a Chanel show in Paris, the acuity of Lane's intellect is matched by a quality of heart that is hisalone, and by a willingness to be carried away. His writings remind us of what criticism can achieve at its best.
Arguably the most gifted reviewer at work today, Anthony Lane sets the standard as a reader, as a critic, and as an observer of life. Nobody's Perfect is a must for fans old and new.
Review
"For those who look forward to Lane's pieces, and for the many who should, this weighty tome is as delightful as watching Marilyn Monroe doing the shimmy." Publishers Weekly
Review
"His prose is an amalgam of humor, intelligence, discernment, and style....Truly, this is a book to savor to take a long, luscious time in getting through its many entertaining, profound pages." Brad Hooper, Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Given the grumpy disarray of film criticism, it should come as little surprise that its dominant figure is The New Yorker's Anthony Lane, who invariably manages to convey delight at having such a cushy gig....His new collection of reviews, Nobody's Perfect (great title), exhibits him at his most enjoyable..." John Powers, L.A. Weekly
Review
"752 pages of wall-to-wall pleasantry....The most frequent complaint of Lane is that he is too amiable, too nonconfrontational; even when he is deriding a film, he still sounds like some well-groomed scamp in a Noel Coward play....[Lane] tempers [his] exquisite prose with a breeziness that makes for an engaging, easy read." Kimberley Jones, The Austin Chronicle
Review
"Those who have long awaited this compilation of Lane's most memorable pieces will not be disappointed. He is intellectual, witty, entertaining, and, without a doubt, one of the finest reviewers of our time....For critic-at-large wannabes, this collection will serve as a de facto guide for years to come." Library Journal
Review
"I'm a critic, too, and here's my criticism: Lane writes so well and is so highly situated that he owes us, like Kael, something more. By gracing us with more supercilious style than trenchant analysis, he treats movies as being trivial and beneath him and as a result, that's what they become." Brian Miller, Seattle Weekly
Review
"With savage wit and keen intellect, Lane can cut a film to pieces like an Iron Chef slicing a salmon....If there is a drawback to Lane's writing, it's that he is awfully reluctant to be as forthright when he likes something as when he dislikes it but that's a common critic's sin....That said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a contemporary American film critic more deserving of a collection." Brian Libby, Willamette Week (Portland, OR.)
Synopsis
A collection of Lane's reviews from The New Yorker.
About the Author
Anthony Lane has been a film critic for The New Yorker since 1993. He lives in London.
Table of Contents
Introduction
MOVIES
Indecent Proposal
Un Coeur en Hiver
Sleepless in Seattle
Poetic Justice
The Fugitive
Tito and Me
The Age of Innocence
Divertimento
Dazed and Confused
Its All True
The Remains of the Day
Three Colors: Blue
Naked
Heaven and Earth
Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould
The Blue Kite
Speed
Wolf
Forrest Gump
Pulp Fiction
The Last Seduction
Bullets Over Broadway
Three Colors: Red
Tom and Viv
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
The Madness of King George
Before Sunrise
Shallow Grave
Priest
Don Juan DeMarco
Burnt by the Sun
Braveheart
The Bridges of Madison County
First Knight
Nine Months
The Usual Suspects
Persuasion
Showgirls
The Scarlet Letter
French Twist
Sgt. Bilko
Stealing Beauty
Emma and Kingpin
Beyond the Clouds
The English Patient
Star Trek: First Contact
Crash
The Saint
Con Air
Men in Black, Batman & Robin, and Speed 2
Contact
Mrs. Brown
L.A. Confidential
Titanic
Nil by Mouth
Lolita
Twilight
The Spanish Prisoner
Deep Impact
Godzilla
The Truman Show
Out of Sight
The Thief
Saving Private Ryan
Halloween H2O
Ronin
Love Is the Devil
Gods and Monsters
Celebrity
Meet Joe Black
Rushmore
The Thin Red Line
The Prince of Egypt
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
The Dreamlife of Angels
The Mummy
The Phantom Menace
Notting Hill
Bowfinger
West Beirut
Anywhere but Here
The World Is not Enough
Liberty Heights
The Talented Mr. Ripley
American Psycho
Gladiator
Mission: Impossible 2
Time Regained
The Nutty Professor 2
Dancer in the Dark
The Yards
Charlies Angels
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Snatch
Hannibal
Pollock
Under the Sand
Pearl Harbor
Apocalypse Now Redux
Together
BOOKS
Best-sellers I
Sex Books
Edward Lear
Best-sellers II
Vladimir Nabokov
Cookbooks
Cyril Connolly
Ian Fleming
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Pynchon
Bloom on Shakespeare
Matthew Arnold
André Gide
Evelyn Waugh
W. G. Sebald
John Ruskin
A. E. Housman
PROFILES
The Sound of Music
Eugène Atget
ˇ Svankmajer
Karl Lagerfeld
Buster Keaton
The Oscars
Shakespeare on Film
Cannes
Lego
Obituaries
Preston Sturges
Robert Bresson
Ernest Shackleton
Alfred Hitchcock
Museum of Sex
The New Yorker at 75
Walker Evans
Astronauts
Jacques Tati
Luis Buñuel
Julia Roberts
William Klein
Billy Wilder
Acknowledgments
Index