Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is spectacular and easy to watch, though it may be a long sit for some viewers. Swift's lyrics hit the target right in the heart.
BRUCE R. MILLER
Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Killers of the Flower Moon” is true cinema. It’s art in its highest form that never fails to entertain.
BRUCE R. MILLER
Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal.
Payne's connection
Alexander Payne’s time at Omaha’s Creighton Prep paid dividends for “The Holdovers.”
“I’m still tight with my friends from Latin class and there are some jokes woven into those scenes that only they will get,” he says.
While he was much younger in 1970 than the characters in the film, he has a brother who matches the time period. “I didn’t realize until later in the project that I was making a film about his class. When you’re a much younger sibling, you live a lot vicariously through your older siblings.
“I have vivid memories of that period.”
And, Payne admits to being “movie crazy” during that time. “Little Big Man,” which is featured in “The Holdovers,” was an early obsession. “I saw it like four times in the theater when I was 9.”
For fans of Payne’s films, there’s also an Easter egg in “The Holdovers.” A sculpture used in “Sideways” (his other film with Paul Giamatti) turns up near the teacher’s set.
Giamatti, he says, grew up in the film’s time period and knew the milieu. As a result, Payne didn’t have to nudge much. “You cast that actor in that part because you’re curious to see what they’re going to do with it,” he says. “No matter what it is, it’s going to be awesome. And that’s the great joy in working with Paul – to see a great artist and actor just do his thing.”
