I missed Columbus at this year’s Independent Film Festival Boston, so of course I was thrilled to catch up with it for its theatrical release. I was even more thrilled to find that it’s lovely, poetic, and just plain old great. At a glance, I expected the film to follow along expected plot lines, but I … Continue reading →
Sometimes, all it takes to reevaluate your stance on a movie is to start writing about it months after first seeing it, and also rebuking yourself for not fully embracing its greatness when you wrote your stupid halftime list in June. So it goes. I saw Menashe back in May during the 2017 Independent Film Festival … Continue reading →
Complaining about a movie’s dullness or accusing a movie of pretension always makes me feel like a bad movie critic, but hey, when the shoe fits, right? Such is the case with Angela Schanelec’s new film, The Dreamed Path, another one of those “remote TIFF screeners” I was privileged to watch on behalf of The Playlist; … Continue reading →
I disliked John Krasinski’s The Hollars quite a bit. I did not like it at all, no sir, which makes him 0 for 2 with me in 2016. On Krasinski’s part, I’m not exactly sure where The Hollars is coming from; I’m not sure if this is his attempt at telling a personal story or if he’s … Continue reading →
Note: I wrote this review of Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin around two or so years ago, give or take, which is the blink of an eye in a cosmological context but close to a fucking lifetime in the context of film criticism born in the social media era. I’m sharing it here, now, for a couple … Continue reading →
There’s a whole lot to like about Trey Edward Shults’ debut film, Krisha, which I’ll be writing a few paragraphs about later this week (mini review round-up, incoming); it’s made with incredible verve, it’s so personal that it blurs the line of reality and art, and the performances are all outstanding. But the most exciting thing about … Continue reading →
“When Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn back in 1884, he prefaced the novel with a wry warning: “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” This … Continue reading →
“Mississippi Grind is a low-stakes movie about high-stakes people who flirt with life and death. Films about gamblers tend toward the tragic more often than they do the comedic (Ocean’s Elevenfilms notwithstanding), butMississippi Grind never quite imposes a sense of danger to its lead Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn), even when he receives text messages from a … Continue reading →
“Writer-director John Magary’s debut feature, The Mend, begins with scenes of domestic discord as brothers Mat (Josh Lucas) and Alan (Stephen Plunkett) each engage their significant others in alternately vague and explicit spats. After some boisterous afternoon delight with girlfriend Andrea (Lucy Owen), Mat invites her rage off-screen before she kicks him out of her … Continue reading →
“Is Alex Ross Perry America’s best contemporary filmmaker? If your voice is counted among the uproar raised over Perry’s 2014 film, Listen Up Philip, that shouldn’t even be a question, but that film plays only to palates honed to withstand the acrid taste of wanton awfulness. Perry makes lovely, fractured movies about hideous people. Watching … Continue reading →
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