Cinema News

Nancy Meyers celebrates Diane Keaton

November 14, 2025 | View in browser

A man and a woman have a picnic on the beach.

By Mark Olsen

Staff Writer

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

It's another strong week for new releases in Los Angeles, with plenty to see.

I reviewed Noah Baumbach's "Jay Kelly," which stars George Clooney as a movie star coming to a personal reckoning as to what his life and stardom have added up to. The film also stars Adam Sandler as Jay's longtime manager, Laura Dern as his publicist and, in a small but crucial role, Billy Crudup as a former friend. Now in limited release (with multiple venues screening the film in 35mm), "Jay Kelly" launches on Netflix Dec. 5.

As I put it in my review, "Baumbach and Clooney have crafted a character who comes to realize his mistakes, many of which simply can't be undone. Jay Kelly, the movie star, may be in the process of figuring himself out, but 'Jay Kelly' the movie arrives as a fully-formed knockout."

Josh Rottenberg spoke to Crudup about his role as Timothy, someone who walked away from acting and still harbors a sense of resentment about it.

"Every actor has Timothy moments," Crudup said. "There have been innumerable parts I wanted profoundly that I didn't get. And some of the parts I got were only because people dropped out. Brad Pitt dropped out of 'Almost Famous.' Keanu Reeves dropped out of 'Watchmen.' I'm standing by — I'm on the bench. At a certain point, if you have been able to have no other source of income other than your creative work, that's a major success."

Amy Nicholson reviewed Oliver Lax's "Sirāt," which won a jury prize when it premiered at Cannes and has been garnering raves since. It is also Spain's submission for the international feature Oscar, now enjoying a one-week qualifying run at AMC Burbank.

Set amid a world of traveling rave dance parties, the film follows a father and son in search of a missing family member. As Amy put it, "You might have a few reasonable guesses where this story is headed. They're probably wrong. Lately, it seems, the risk-averse screenwriting rules of what-should-happen-by-which-page that have steered Hollywood movies for far too long are feeling especially threadbare. As that way of filmmaking implodes, audiences are turning to movies that rebel. Like this one."

When the film played at Toronto back in September, Joshua Rothkopf spoke to Laxe, who (sort of) explained his movie's ambiguities.

"I really trust in the capacity of images to penetrate into the metabolism of the spectator," Laxe says. "I'm like a masseuse. When you watch my films, sometimes you'll want to kill me or you'll feel the pain in your body, like: Wow, what a treat. But after, you can feel the result."

This week also sees the release of Edgar Wright's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Running Man." The original story, first published in 1982, was set in the year 2025, which sets the stage for a particularly on-point piece of satirical sci-fi, very much about our here and now.

However, as Amy Nicholson notes in her review, "The timing couldn't be better — and worse — for Edgar Wright to remake 'The Running Man,' only to put no fire into it. He and his co-writer Michael Bacall have adapted a fairly faithful version of the book, unlike the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger meathead extravaganza. (The only way to suffer through that one is if you imagine it's a parody of pun-driven testosterone flicks.) Tellingly, they've left off the year 2025 and only lightly innovated the production design with spherical drones. But there's little urgency or outrage. Instead of a funhouse mirror of what could be, it's merely a smudged reflection of what is."

Celebrating 50 years of experimental film

Though Los Angeles is obviously closely aligned with Hollywood and all that means, it has also long been a vital hub for a parallel world of experimental filmmaking.

Los Angeles Filmforum is celebrating 50 years as the city's premier showcase for experimental film with an extended series of special programs. Things kick off Sunday at 2220 Arts + Archives with an evening that spotlights notable L.A.-based artists from across the years, including Maya Deren, James Whitney, Adam Beckett, Amy Halpern, Chick Strand, Pat O'Neill and others. A program Dec. 14 will include the film "Three Sparks" by Naomi Uman, a former projectionist for L.A. Filmforum.

"There's always just a large number of people here interested in the full range of possibilities of film," said Adam Hyman, executive director and programmer for L.A. Filmforum since 2003. "Obviously there's not a publicity apparatus for experimental film and nor is there any money in it for real, but there's always people making interesting work and pushing boundaries.

Keep up with California

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.

Subscribe Now

"Often people don't know that they're interested in such things," he added, "but still can comprehend that there's a greater world than your standard scripted character-based narrative structure."

Hyman noted an uptick in attendance following the pandemic, as well as an explosion of new venues around town to see experimental work, such as Whammy Analog Media and Now Instant Image Hall. The appeal of experimental work has a lingering effect, he thinks.

"People see different things that work for them or don't work for them," said Hyman. "They'll watch a film and it'll be off-putting and then three days later it'll be in your dreams. If it shows up three days later in your dreams, that's an effective bit of movie viewing, even if you don't like the film per se.

"It's not about entertainment through distraction, but it's entertainment through absorption. And then it's just a willingness to go there."

Points of interest

Nancy Meyers with 'Something's Gotta Give'

On Sunday will be a moment I think many people have been waiting for since the recent death of Diane Keaton. Following a screening at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre of 2003's "Something's Gotta Give," writer-director Nancy Meyers will appear for a Q&A to talk about her long and fruitful collaboration with Keaton. The conversation will be led by frequent Times contributor Katie Walsh.

Keaton plays something of a Meyers stand-in in the movie, a successful playwright who has largely given up on romance for herself. That is until she meets an aging lothario played by Jack Nicholson and a dashing young doctor played by Keanu Reeves. She soon finds herself with options she never could have imagined.

Reviewing the film in 2003, Kenneth Turan noted that Meyers "has a knack for finding the humor in the way we live our lives, and she has come up with both a fine hook and an expert cast to play it out."

Turan also noted, "Ah, the complications of age-appropriate romance in the movies. It's the comic gift of 'Something's Gotta Give' and its writer-director, Nancy Meyers, to make the romantic relationship between a 63-year-old man and a fiftysomething woman — no big deal in the real world — into a situation so preposterous it's the cause for some shrewd and believable comedy."

John D. Hancock with 'Weeds'

On Thursday, the Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills will screen the 1987 film "Weeds," starring Nick Nolte as a prison inmate who begins writing plays. Director John D. Hancock, who co-wrote the script with his wife Dorothy Tristan (based on her novel inspired by a genuine prison theater troupe), will be on-hand for a Q&A moderated by Marc Heuck.

Reviewing the film in 1987, Kevin Thomas wrote, "'Not since 'North Dallas Forty,' in which he was a battered pro football player, has Nolte had a movie that allowed him to be so completely the star. 'Weeds' makes full use of his brawny masculine presence yet demands that he dig deep into his resources as an actor, and the result is a large-scale, emotion-charged performance. … 'Weeds' is the kind of film that makes us realize how hungry we are for genuine, rousing emotion on the screen — and then proceeds to do an exceptional job of providing it."

Michael McKean and Colleen Camp with 'Clue'

One of those movies that has endeared itself to audiences over the years to become a cult favorite, 1985's "Clue" was first known for the unusual strategy of having three different endings released to theaters. Based on the popular board game and directed by Jonathan Lynn, the film will play twice tonight as part of Vidiots' 40th anniversary celebrations, each screening featuring a different ending. Michael McKean will be there in-person; there will also be an exclusive video from co-star Colleen Camp. The cast includes Martin Mull, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren and Lee Ving.

Reviewing the film in 1985, Kevin Thomas wrote, "The more you struggle to keep track of the constantly multiplying plot developments, the harder it gets to care who did it … although Curry does get to toss off a lengthy plot summary with the aplomb of a seasoned Gilbert and Sullivan performer."

Newsies in 35mm

Another film that has seen a turnaround in its esteem is 1992's "Newsies," the directing debut from acclaimed choreographer Kenny Ortega, who only a year later would direct "Hocus Pocus." A musical drama based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899, the film stars Bill Pullman, Ann-Margret, Robert Duvall and a young Christian Bale. It will screen in 35mm at the Academy Museum on Saturday morning.

Reviewing the film in 1992, Michael Wilmington wrote, "Certain movies engage your affections so strongly that, even if they start to fall apart, you tend to keep rooting for them. That's pretty much the case with 'Newsies.' … for all its failures, 'Newsies' has something that many successes miss. It's done with such full-bore enthusiasm, verve and energy, that — crazy as it often seems — it really does have moments that lift your heart or moisten your eyes."