I liked Nightcrawler so much that I’m bummed I couldn’t like Roman J. Israel, Esq. more; I like Dan Gilroy, I like Denzel Washington, I like Carmen Ejogo, and I like Colin Farrell. (In case you don’t already know, I also like social activism and social justice.) This movie should have been a slam dunk for me. … Continue reading →
There is a part of me that loves Coco, the new Pixar film, for Coco, and a part of me that loves it for essentially being a big ol’ “eff you” to our president and his openly xenophobic, anti-immigrant ideology, which isn’t really an “ideology,” because let’s face it, Donald is not an ideological kind of … Continue reading →
Prior to this week, I’d never caught even a minute of La Belle Noisues, Jacques Rivette’s four hour long movie about the mindbogglingly meticulous process painters follow for their craft. But thanks to a 4K restoration of the director’s cut, and also to the fine folks at The Playlist, I’ve seen every single one of them, … Continue reading →
I’m sort of tired of comedies that adopt the simple method of point-and-shoot – see The Big Sick – but I can forgive them for mere adequacy of craftsmanship so long as the writing is both a) good, and b) doesn’t overstay its welcome. In the case of Mr. Roosevelt, I get the sense that the film’s … Continue reading →
For WBUR’s The ARTery, I wrote about a too-common problem even the best TV shows face: Figuring out when to end it all, by which I mean (he said in a rush) when to wrap things up and close the series out. Certain great shows can go beyond three or four seasons of content without … Continue reading →
Simple answer to the question posed by the title of my latest piece at The Hollywood Reporter: Yes. Yes it does. Luc Besson’s latest and underloved summer CGI extravaganza, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, has its flaws, most of them being tied to Dane DeHaan’s ill fit as the cocky action hero type, … Continue reading →
I probably shouldn’t give half a damn either way about Justice League; it’s pretty crummy, it’s a comic book movie, and pretty crummy comic book movies don’t really deserve anyone to come to their defense. But the truth is that most comic book movies are pretty crummy, and while the DC comic book movies tend to … Continue reading →
I could do with a new Cartoon Saloon film every couple of years or so, ideally more often than that, but it’s animation, what are you gonna do; besides, the movies this studio knocks out are always worth the wait. Back in 2014, I reviewed Song of the Sea. This year, I reviewed The Breadwinner, a very … Continue reading →
I went into Daniel McCabe’s This Is Congo with a healthy amount of trepidation, expecting nothing more than a linear history lesson about the state of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017. My expectations weren’t met. The film is a history lesson, that’s for sure, but it keeps the lesson active, primarily rooted in McCabe’s footage … Continue reading →
And now, for the second time this year, I’ll link to that old piece I wrote about Ichi the Killer back when this blog was in its fledgling days (and literally everything I wrote, I wrote on these pages, as opposed to what I do now). There’s a reason for the re-link: Ichi the Killer is back … Continue reading →
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