Remembering

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

The shocking deaths this week of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner reached far beyond Hollywood. Their legacy will go far beyond show business thanks to their committed political activism for causes they believed in.

Mary McNamara pulled together the different strands of Rob Reiner’s life and career, noting, “As an artist and a public figure, he put his money where his mouth was and remained invariably sincere, a powerful and compelling trait that has become increasingly rare in a time of the sound-bite inanities, muddy thinking, obvious contradictions and outright falsehoods that threaten our public and political discourse.

“Reiner mastered many mediums and wielded a broad palette but his signature artistic trait was empathy. No story was too small, or too brutal, to be examined with kindness and an understanding that the most grave injustice we can commit is to choose apathy or revenge when connection and transcendence are always possible.”

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in the movie “When Harry Met Sally…”

(MGM / Library of Congress via AP)

Amy Nicholson took a deeper look at his film career, while Robert Llloyd surveyed his work on television.

Josh Rothkopf and I rolled out a list of his 10 best movies as a director, which includes his astonishing early run, titles like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men” and “The American President.” All of those come in little over a decade.

Tribute screenings have already been announced around Los Angeles, including “When Harry Met Sally…” at the New Beverly on Dec. 30–Jan. 1 and then again on Jan. 3 at Vidiots, which will also be showing “A Few Good Men” on Jan. 6 and “The Princess Bride” on Jan. 18. More screenings are sure to follow.

‘Love & Basketball’ 25th anniversary

Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps in the movie “Love & Basketball.”

(New Line Cinema)

On Saturday, the Academy Museum will host a 25th anniversary screening of “Love & Basketball” with writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood in attendance. Starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, it is one of the great romantic films of recent decades, the story of two young athletes struggling to reconcile their feelings for each other with their individual careers and ambitions.

In his original review of the movie, Eric Harrison wrote, “The movie is smarter than it has to be, but it’s the sort of low-key smart that can be easily overlooked. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood doesn’t care if you recognize how hard it is to juggle two distinctly different types of movies (make that three, since the romance and sports elements here don’t obscure the feminist fable that is the film’s heart). … This is Prince-Bythewood’s first feature film as both a writer and director, and she shows admirable command of her craft.”

In an interview from 1990, Prince-Bythewood talked about the difficulty of casting the two leads, worrying whether she should find basketball players who could learn to act or actors who could persuasively play basketball.

“There were a lot of sleepless nights,” Prince-Bythewood said. “Is this a love story or a basketball story? I finally realized it’s a love story first. It doesn’t matter how great the basketball is if you don’t care about the character or the love story.

In 2020, Sonaiya Kelley spoke to Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, Epps, producer Spike Lee, actors Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Tyra Banks and Regina Hall for a definitive oral history of the film.

“When I first started out writing it, my goal was to do a Black ‘When Harry Met Sally…,’” said Prince-Bythewood. “I love that movie, but I wasn’t seeing myself in movies like that.”

‘Metropolitan’ 35th anniversary

The cast of Whit Stillman’s 1990 movie “Metropolitan.”

(Rialto Pictures)

On Sunday afternoon, the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre will have a 35th anniversary screening of “Metropolitan” with writer-director Whit Stillman and actor Taylor Nichols there for a Q&A. Set during the week between Christmas and New Year’s among a very specific social set of young New Yorkers — labeled in the film as the Urban Haute Bourgeoisie — the film is a delicately detailed comedy of manners. It would earn Stillman an Oscar nomination for original screenplay.

In her original review, Sheila Benson wrote, “Filmmaker Stillman is a pointillist, working in the tiniest, most meticulous degrees. If he seems at times as controlled and distanced as his own UHBs, his impulsive, romantic ending betrays him. Stillman understands caste, class and deportment as perfectly as Audrey’s idol, Jane Austen, and by the time he’s through, so do we.”

In a 1990 interview, Stillman spoke about making a movie about such a specific social set, one that many viewers of the film will not have been a part of. “I think people will enjoy the fact that the film has texture,” he said. “They will sense that there is a joke there, even if they don’t get it.”

Points of interest

Nancy Meyers with ‘Father of the Bride’

Kimberly Williams, left, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in the 1991 version of “Father of the Bride.”

(Disney / Touchstone Pictures)

Director Nancy Meyers had to pull out of a recent Q&A scheduled for a screening of “Something’s Gotta Give,” which starred her frequent collaborator Diane Keaton. Meyers is now set to appear at the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre on Saturday for a Q&A after 1991’s remake of “Father of the Bride,” directed by Charles Shyer and co-written by Shyer and Meyers. As far as we can tell, this will be Meyers’ first public appearance since Keaton’s death in October.

The film stars Keaton alongside Steve Martin, as a couple who are arranging the wedding of their daughter, with Martin Short showing up as an overbearing wedding planner.

In his original review, Michael Wilmington wrote, “Midway through ‘Father of the Bride’ … Martin Short shows up, as the effete, snobbish wedding coordinator that Leo G. Carroll played in the original, and steals the movie from Martin, steals it from everybody. Short’s handling of this silly little role — an outrageous poseur named ‘Franck Eggelhoffer’ who insists on calling himself Frawwnk and acts like a post-disco Mischa Auer — has perfect pitch and real wigged-out comic genius.”

David Lowery and ‘The Green Knight’

Dev Patel in the 2021 movie “The Green Knight.”

(A24)

On Saturday, Vidiots will host a screening of 2021’s “The Green Knight” with writer-director David Lowery in person. Based on the 14th century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” the film stars Dev Patel as Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, who, after winning a mystical challenge on Christmas, is told he has one year to complete another adventure.

In his review, Justin Chang wrote, “What does it mean to be a knight, or even just to be human? It isn’t an easy question, and ‘The Green Knight,’ in taking it seriously, isn’t always an easy film. But by the time Gawain reaches his journey’s end, in as moving and majestically sustained a passage of pure cinema as I’ve seen this year, the moral arc of his journey has snapped into undeniable focus. He plays the game; he accepts the challenge. His example is worth following.”

Oliver Stone’s ‘Nixon’

Joan Allen and Anthony Hopkins in the movie “Nixon.”

(Sidney Baldwin / Cinergi Pictures Entertainment)

On Sunday, the Laemmle Royal will have a 30th anniversary screening of Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” with the filmmaker in person for a Q&A to be moderated by Times contributing writer Tim Greiving.

Starring Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon and Joan Allen as his wife, Pat (both were nominated for Oscars for their performances), the film covers the political life of the politician who rose to being president only to leave the office in disgrace.

In his original review, Kenneth Turan wrote, “Mostly (though not completely) gone is the disturbing, lunatic Oliver Stone, the bad-boy writer-director who infuriated the political establishment with ‘JFK’ and outraged sensibilities nationwide with ‘Natural Born Killers.’ He’s been replaced by a filmmaker very much on his best behavior, a thorough researcher who consulted 80 books and published a heavily footnoted screenplay. If Quentin Tarantino made a film in the style of Sir Richard Attenborough, the surprise could not be greater. And ‘Nixon’ is in many ways an impressive, well-crafted piece of work.”

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wants to spend some time revisiting Rob Reiner’s indelible mark on pop culture.

For many of us, it was already that time of year when we pop in our DVD of “When Harry Met Sally…” or figure out which streaming service has it in its library (or digitally rent it, if none do), and passively recite every quotable moment until Harry’s breathless declaration of love on New Year’s Eve necessitated our full performance. It was a comfort watch in the best sense because of how joyous and hopeful it left so many of us, even cynics, feeling. This year, as the tradition now becomes layered with sadness following the tragic deaths of Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, there’s at least comfort in knowing all the Hollywood magic he brought to life (whether he was directing, or starring in a production) that was full of humanity, humor and heart, and accompanied us at different stages of our lives, can continue to do so. Members of our film team took a look at some of Reiner’s best films, many of which can be streamed. And TV critic Robert Lloyd reminded us of Reiner’s contributions to television, particularly through shows like “All in the Family” and “New Girl” (“Lettuce, tomato, lettuce, meat, meat, meat, cheese, lettuce” — iykyk).

But if it’s all too soon, we get it. Maybe our other streaming recommendations can provide an escape — one is a TV drama about a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theater, and the other is a mystery thriller with an unlikely duo teaming up to investigate the case of a missing girl.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, “Emily in Paris” actor Samuel Arnold stops by Guest Spot to tell us about the behind-the-scenes adventures of the show’s Italian-set fifth season.

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

Julianne Hough near the Dolby Theatre at the 97th Academy Awards earlier this year. The Oscars are moving to YouTube, sending shock waves through Hollywood.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

What the Oscars moving to YouTube means for broadcast TV: The Academy Awards will stream on YouTube beginning in 2029, ending a more than five-decade run on broadcast television and marking the show’s biggest distribution shift in its history.

How do Lifetime and Hallmark keep Christmas movies fresh? Pickleball and the NFL: For the two cable networks, tapping into niches, hobbies and sports teams allows them to invite new audiences in, while keeping loyal viewers satisfied with a break in formula.

Diversity and representation of women on streaming TV series in sharp decline, UCLA study shows: The latest edition of the Hollywood Diversity Report released Tuesday determined that the top shows in 2024 were less culturally diverse than the previous year.

Hollywood was built on movie stardom. AI is changing the rules: Synthetic performers are forcing Hollywood to rethink how fame works and who gets to claim it. Even as the technology races ahead, legal concerns are mounting.

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Harry McNaughton as Charlie Summers, a disillusioned Broadway director returning home to his amateur community theatre in “Happiness.”

(Andi Crown Photography / PBS)

“Happiness” (PBS app, pbs.org)

What could be better, at this festive time of year, or any other time, than a backstage musical comedy set in an amateur theatrical company in New Zealand’s fifth-largest city? Harry McNaughton plays Charlie Summers, whose Broadway dream dies when he’s fired as the director of a “Cats” revival and, losing his work visa, returns home to New Zealand for what he hopes will be only a couple of days. Naturally, it turns out otherwise, with Charlie drawn reluctantly into the production of a new musical, “The Trojan Horse,” at the Pizazz theater, run by his mother (Rebecca Gibney) and stocked with a original twists on classic characters: a dictatorial director, the always-cast leading lady, a talented ingénue, a buff electrician with a great voice and the shy high school music teacher who wrote it, making themselves and their desires quickly felt. (There’s a feminist thrust to the plot.) The songs are tuneful and witty, the performances fun, the atmosphere charged but charming. Presented in six 20-minute episodes as part of “Masterpiece Theater.” — Robert Lloyd

Emma Thompson as private investigator Zoë Boehm and Ruth Wilson as art conservationist Sarah Trafford in “Down Cemetery Road.”

(Matt Towers / Apple TV)

“Down Cemetery Road” (Apple TV)

Nothing says the holidays like a gripping crime drama where everyone’s a suspect! Apple TV’s smart and unvarnished British series follows Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson), a private investigator who hasn’t the time or bandwidth for social niceties, shows of emotion or combing her hair. She’s thrown together with homemaker and art restorer Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson), a passive suburbanite who likes 4 Non Blondes.

Their sparring personalities create the undeniable chemistry that’s at the heart of this eight-part series, while the drama’s unexpected turn of events and fast pacing make it hard to hit pause. The two women are connected when a deadly residential explosion rocks Sarah’s neighborhood. A woman was killed, but her young daughter, who made it out alive, has mysteriously disappeared. The quest to find the girl pulls the odd-couple investigators into a complex and dangerous cover up by the Ministry of Defense, and they discover the explosion was in fact an orchestrated assassination.

Morwenna Banks’ adaptation of Mick Herron’s debut novel of the same name, “Down Cemetery Road” also features the PTSD-plagued Downey (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the villainous Amos (Fehinti Balogun), bumbling agent Hamza Malik (Adeel Akhtar) and his sociopathic boss, C (Darren Boyd). But it’s Thompson’s gruff character who gets the best lines, such as the one she says to a potential client: “I don’t drink Prosecco and I don’t bond emotionally.” The show has already been renewed for a second season. — Lorraine Ali

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Samuel Arnold as Julien in Season 5 of “Emily in Paris.”

(Netflix)

Every office needs a deliciously snarky employee who is too fabulous to work, but still manages to grace the room with their presence to boost the vibe. In “Emily in Paris,” that person is Julien. The quippy, sharply dressed and gossip-loving character, played by Samuel Arnold, has been a bright spot in the series over its run. Initially the guy who liked to remind Emily she was une ringarde American, he’s softened his stance on his fish-out-of-water colleague. But as the Agence Grateau luxury marketing team ventures to Italy this season, which is now streaming, his side eye shifts focus to a new co-worker. Over email, Arnold shared what it was like shooting outside their usual setting and the animated series he returns to over and over. — Yvonne Villarreal

The Grateau team spent time in Italy this season. Some filming took place in Rome and Venice. What’s a memory or experience that stands out from filming there? Did any place there become a go-to spot for you when you weren’t shooting?

Rome was incredible, both on and off screen. One moment that really stands out is when Ashley Park and her choreographer, Carlye Tamaren, taught us one of Ashley’s dance routines. Everyone did so well — and Bruno Gouery was absolutely hilarious. When we weren’t filming, one of our favorite meeting spots was the rooftop at the Minerva Hotel. It’s stunning. In Venice, we would all gather in Bruno Gouery’s room and play a pirate dice game that Lucien Laviscount introduced us to. The city itself felt like a dream.

The series revolves around Emily and her fish-out-of-water experience of building a new life in Paris. How would this series look if it were titled “Julien in Paris”? Five seasons in, what would a slice of his life look like if you could pitch it to Darren Star?

If the show were called “Julien in Paris,” it probably wouldn’t be very exciting — Julien is a Parisian. He has Paris on lock. I like to think he sees himself as the prince of the city. Now, Julien in New York City — opening his own marketing firm there — that’s a different story. I can already feel the drama.

Julien is very discerning and could spot the games Genevieve was playing. How do you think he handled her, and the position he was in, knowing this secret could damage Emily and Mindy’s friendship?

I think Julien handled it pretty well. It’s not a great position to be in. When one friend hurts another, the right thing to do is to encourage the person at fault to do the right thing. And when someone like Genevieve — played by the absolutely lovely Thalia Besson — tries to stir up trouble, Julien definitely knows how to deal with that in the best possible way.

With all the love triangles (and squares), who would you, Samuel, pick for Emily — Gabriel or Marcello? And for Mindy — Nicolas or Alfie?

I don’t think I should be picking men for those women. What I can say is that they should follow their hearts and embrace whatever comes with that. Honestly, we should all try to do the same.

What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?

I recently watched “Safe House” [Netflix], with Lucien Laviscount as a badass action hero. The casting is great, the ending really catches you off guard, and Lucien does his own stunts — which makes it even more impressive.

What’s your go-to comfort watch — the movie or TV show you always come back to?

“Rick and Morty” [Hulu]. It never gets old. It’s funny, packed with pop-culture references — which I love — and the voice acting is just incredible.