Jason Schwartzman

News, Reviews & Features
  • Review: Wine Country is a waste of a great ensemble cast

    Movie Review | Luke Whiston | 17th June 2019

    One thing that fascinates me about film-making is not the how of how movies are made, but the when. We see stars grow in real time these days and very often, once their careers have developed enough, they become producers - meaning the shows and films we watch follow their whims. That explains why we get a glut of movies about having babies, followed by a wave of thirties singleton rom-coms, and these subjects mould the wider zeitgeist. And now we're entering what should be the most interesting phase, where all your favourite stars are burnt out and holding grudges: the mid-life crisis. Fight! Fight! Fight!

  • Saving Mr Banks

    Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 26th November 2013

    As obvious an awards tilt as Disney knows Saving Mr Banks to be, it seems more of a mid-budget passion project. How better to venerate its beloved founder than have cuddly ol' Tom Hanks play him? But transparent self-promotion aside - this is Disney, after all - what's really interesting is how it plays out as white-washing advocacy for the process of Hollywoodizing a popular product, using emotion rather than reason to sweep you along and make you root for the studio. And the fact that the film is itself a Hollywoodization of true events.

  • Funny People

    Movie Review | Ali | 26th August 2009

    I'll make no bones about it: I'm a huge Judd Apatow fan. I count The 40 Year-Old Virgin as one of the most underrated comedies of the past decade (there's just something about this scene that slays me every time) and consider Knocked Up to be a near faultless comedy - one that wears its heart on its big dumb soppy sleeve.