Hugh Grant - The Talks

What did you like about playing the baddies?

It’s more fun. Actors prefer being baddies! Audiences prefer the baddies, and it's a very interesting question of why that is so. My personal belief is that it's the antagonist, the bad guy, who represents our true selves. And that is thrilling. I think it's thrilling to experience our true selves through that character. I think we are vicious, violent, selfish, unpleasant. And that's why good characters are quite difficult, because the good characters are the superficial, civilized veneer that we put on our true brutish self. It's less interesting.

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Is that how you’d like to be remembered as an actor? Through the myriad of different kinds of roles you’ve played?

Oh, man. Well, I hope when we die, it's the same as before we were born. No one's really frightened of that enormous, infinite blackness before we were born. No one sits there thinking, “Oh, God, how awful. I was nothing.” So I don't really see why we should be frightened of that after we die, as long as it is black. I really don’t want to be up there on a cloud playing a harp, meeting some of the people I’ve hated in my life. I can’t imagine a greater nightmare. That would be hell, in fact.

Only the River Flows (2023) **

Atmospheric modern Chinese police procedural/whodunnit maintains interest but a little too ambiguous for the genre.

Dutchman (1966) **

The two leads are terrific, but allegories don't do well in film unless there's some basis in reality viewers can grab onto. This one is too out there.

Johnny Got His Gun (1971) **

Well intentioned and nicely put together but full of Symbols and not emotionally engaging. We get the point.

Middle of the Night (1959) ****

Superb kitchen sink drama is tops all around but especially Fred March, a stunning Kim Novak and a marvelous Chayefsky screenplay.

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) **

Nifty noir soley due to a terrific Eddie G.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) ***

Admirable adaptation of the novel is perhaps too literal at times but on a shoestring budget it's a beautifully shot and well acted experiment.

Breakfast of Champions (1999) **

Good effort in adapting an unfilmable novel. Great, game cast unfortunately saddled with a protagonist you can't root for.

Official Competition (2021) *

It's well made and looks pretty but aside from one laugh out loud moment it's not funny. Satires about movie making are much more difficult to pull off than other satires which are already extremely difficult. This is no exception.

The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) ****

Gorgeously shot by the great Freddie Francis with an intelligent, poetic script by Harold Pinter, the typical excellent Brit supporting cast and two award worthy turns by Ms. Streep and Mr. Irons. Top notch entertainment.

The Running Man (1963) **

Could have been a nifty caper/thriller along the Spanish Riviera with three top actors but it's ineptly paced and scripted so it's a slog.

The Hill (1965) ****

Terrific existential drama about the complicity of the powerful and the powerless. Top notch direction, lighting, acting and a sharp script. Tough to watch but rewarding.

Damn the Defiant! (1962) ***

Better than that other mutiny flick from 1962. Beautifully filmed, produced, acted and efficiently directed.

Black Bag (2025) **

Loved everything about this sleek, stylish spy-vs-spy flick except the unfathomable way Soderbergh chose to film the interiors.

The Last Waltz (1978) **

Unfortunately not as much of a lasting influence on how to film a live rock concert as one would have hoped. Scorsese deftly directs but it helps to be a fan of "classic rock".

Dead Ringer (1963) ***

A large amount of disbelief must be suspended in watching this convoluted flick but the rewards are the iconic Ms Davis and some fine b/w cinematography. Pete Lawford is a hoot.

Crossing Delancey (1988) ***

Peak Amy Irving in a mostly sensible rom-com. Well cast and smartly shot.

Murder by Contract (1958) ***

Vince Edwards is terrific as the enigmatic assassin in this stylish low budget noir. Unusual, interesting script.

Port of Shadows (1938) ***

Boffo last third saves the picture from becoming a parody of itself. Michelle Morgan and Jean Gabin make an iconic screen pairing.

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) ****

Bob Wise directs yet another top notch flick, this time a tough, gritty, hard-hitting heist-noir. Stellar cast and superb script.

Rumble Fish (1983) ****

Francis directs the heck out of a terrific cast. Beautifully shot and composed with inventive in camera effects. Stylish, clever production design.

Late Spring (1949) ***

Setsuko Hara is radiant in a touching story of a daughter's devotion to her widowed father in post war Japan.

The Bitter Stems (1956) **

Nicely shot noir with maybe too many twists suffers from the poor acting. Nifty dream sequence.

River's Edge (1986) ****

Perfectly cast and well scripted youth noir that often gets to unexpected depths. Keanu actually helps here.

Forbidden Planet (1956) ***

Unfortunately quite dated script mars the overall production which is very well done. Probably the first sci-fi flick that a studio took seriously and produced it seriously. Beautifully made.

Suzanne Vega brings 'Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs' tour to Ithaca for sold-out show

Q: At this point in your career you have a bunch of songs that could be considered your greatest hits, which you’re sort of obligated to play at your shows. But what are your thoughts on playing some of those older songs, some of which are almost 40 years old? Do you relate to them any differently? Do you still like playing them? Or are you tempted to change them up and do them differently?

SV: Oh, no, I'm not. Who needs to reinterpret the old material? That thing that Bob Dylan does is not for me. I like doing the old ones, and I do them sincerely, each time. A song like “Gypsy,” which I wrote when I was in my teens, I still feel it every time I sing it. It's about young love and first love and that's the reason to keep singing it because it sort of brings you back to that moment in time. So I love it.

Never Open That Door (1952) **

Argentinian portmanteau noir is well made but the effect is like watching a couple of good episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) **

Hard to watch but well made drama about a one way love affair and its effects. Nice to see Gloria Grahame in one of her final roles.

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) ***

Starts off as almost a parody of an 80's cop actioner but gradually sucks you into its orbit and wallops you in the end. Terrific cast, beautifully shot.

The Outfit (1973) **

Top cast helps this gritty hoods v. hoods 70's revenge noir.

Maria (2024) ***

Angie Jolie is riveting in a riff on Maria Callas' last week alive. Beautifully filmed and produced.

Angel Face (1952) **

Jean Simmons makes a lovely femme fatale but the plot hinges on us believing that Bob Mitchum is a moron and that won't do.

The Princess Comes Across (1936) **

Sharp dialog and a quick pace keep this contrived romcom/whodunnit afloat.

To Die For (1995) ***

Beautifully shot look at one woman's single minded media ambition. Terrific Nic Kidman and always wonderful Illeana Douglas.

The Pied Piper (1986) **

The animation is at times engrossing but more often is too generic and repetitive lessening the impact of the ending. Bleak, dark and not for kiddies.

Night Must Fall (1937) **

Bob Montgomery is very good and there's a witty script but it's a good 30 minutes too long, probably too faithful to its stage origins.

Trans-Europ-Express (1966) **

Satire of art house films and their filmmakers is watchable for the two leads and the snapshot of mid-60's Paris.

Killer's Kiss (1955) ***

Above average noir solely because of Stanley who did just about everything on this picture. The camera work is spectacular and quite remarkable given the budget, the methods and the results.

A Cold Wind in August (1961) **

Pretty good little potboiler with two terrific performances and a sharp script. The wildly variable quality of the direction is the only drawback.

A Complete Unknown (2024) ***

Enjoyable biopic is well photographed and produced with a superb Ed Norton, but Tim Chalamet can't quite dissolve into Dylan. Wonderful soundtrack.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024) ***

Another hilarious adventure with the cheese loving inventor and his trusty sidekick. Cracking finale.

The Universal Theory (2023) **

I would have liked it more if the soundtrack wasn't so overbearing and carelessly used. Could have used some trimming as well although it's nicely put together over all.

Tesla data helped police after Las Vegas truck explosion, but experts have wider privacy concerns

The data collected by Musk’s electric car company after the Cybertruck packed with fireworks burst into flames in front of the Trump International Hotel Wednesday proved valuable to police in helping track the driver’s movements.
Wrong! The data was collected BEFORE the truck burst into flames. It was provided to the police after the explosion. Tesla is a surveillance company.

North by Northwest (1959) ****

Hitch at his best. The crop duster sequence may be his best ever.

Birth (2004) ****

Nic Kidman gives the female equivalent of George C.'s Patton performance in this beautifully filmed and produced examination of grief that cannot be overcome. Fine cast including the always welcome Betty Bacall.