Interview: Ana Lily Amirpour, “The Bad Batch”

First: I got to interview Ana Lily Amirpour, director of 2014’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and last Friday’s The Bad Batch, and if I had to describe the experience in a word, that word would be “awesome.” If I had to describe it in more words than that, I’d peg it as one of … Continue reading →

The Family Ties That Bind Trey Edward Shults

Did you know that I really like Trey Edward Shults movies? Well, I do! So much that I have interviewed him twice, that I named his debut, Krisha, my #2 pick of 2016, and that I wrote this feature-length ditty over at Paste Magazine about the role family plays in his films (being Krisha and It Comes at … Continue reading →

Review: The Book of Henry, 2017, dir. Colin Trevorrow

I’m not sure what else can be said about The Book of Henry after the Internet gave it a straight-up, bewildered drubbing, but that won’t stop me from sharing the review I cobbled together for Paste Magazine. I don’t mind saying that this, Colin Trevorrow’s choice of post-Jurassic World, pre-Jurassic World 2, pre-Star War:s Episode IX work, … Continue reading →

The 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time

Picking 100 movies to represent the all-timers of their category is a thankless and impossible task; even if you hit all the major titles needed to give the list gravitas, you’re going to end up leaving out titles that one person might think are essential, or another person will take exception to the ordering, or … Continue reading →

Review: Kill Switch, 2017, dir. Tim Smit

I’m a man with an iron stomach, but even I came close to blowing chunks during stretches of Hardcore Henry, so the idea of taking on another film shot through a first-person perspective might make me sound amnesic. But Kill Switch isn’t Hardcore Henry, not simply for lack of gratuitous violence (and gratuitous Sharlto Copley performances) but for … Continue reading →

Review Round-Up: Give The Mummy A Band Aid When It Comes At Night

(Author’s note: I’m trying this new thing where I will attempt to review movies here if I’m on assignment writing about ’em in other capacities elsewhere. So when I interview talent, write editorials, or compose lists, I’ll circle back around to this space for capsule reviews as buttressing corroborative details.) THE MUMMY, 2017, dir. Alex … Continue reading →

Interview: Trey Edward Shults, “It Comes at Night”

Another year, another interview with Trey Edward Shults, one of my favorite up and coming filmmakers. (I should maybe start a list of my favorite up and comers, just for my own edification, but also because I really love web traffic.)  In March of 2016, we talked about Krisha, his debut film, which turned out to … Continue reading →

Interview: Zoe Lister-Jones, “Band Aid”

More spillover from this year’s Independent Film Festival Boston, boys and girls! In this chapter of my post-fest follow-up, I present to you my interview with Zoe Lister-Jones, actress, writer, singer, filmmaker, playwright, and probably a host of other nouns denoting profession that I am unaware of. (Chef? Basketball player? Deep sea fisherwoman? Vigilante superheroine?) … Continue reading →

The 100 Best Movies of the 1950s

Next up in Paste Magazine’s “100 Best/Greatest” series: The 1950s! I blurbed my ass off for this list, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat (which is to say that I am literally doing it again right now, for a different list focused on a different subject. As Hexxus once said: No breaks!). Anywho … Continue reading →

Soaking in Prague’s Beer Spa

Good news, everybody! I write about beer now, too! And for Paste Magazine, no less, which in my estimation is one of the best outlets for journalism regarding the beer world. Color me biased. (I’m biased. But I also know that Paste’s thoughts on beer are held in pretty high esteem by people who are … Continue reading →

Interview: Demetri Martin, “Dean”

Ehhhhhhhhhh! Remember that time I told you I liked Dean, that movie directed by that guy Demetri Martin? Well, call me biased, but I happened to interview him this year via Independent Film Festival Boston, where the film happened to screen. What a happening! Let me be blunt: I had a great time talking to Martin, … Continue reading →

Review: Dean, 2017, dir. Demetri Martin

Every single damn time I talk about Dean, Demetri Martin’s directorial debut, I check and double check and quadra-check my work to make sure I do not accidentally refer to him as “Dean Martin.” That’s not a nice thing to do, Demetri Martin. It’s not a nice thing to do at all. Anyways: Dean is out in … Continue reading →

Best of Criterion’s New Releases, May 2017

Hey! It’s May(‘s Criterion round-up for Paste Magazine)! An Ozu movie written around fart jokes is an Ozu movie well in my wheelhouse, but I did not write about Good Morning; instead I wrote about Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelle, Chantal Akerman’s landmark arthouse film, a three hour opus about a single mom as she … Continue reading →

Review: The Commune, 2017, dir. Thomas Vinterberg

I wish I had enjoyed Thomas Vinterberg’s new film, The Commune, more than I did, but hey, good news: I still enjoyed it quite a lot. It’s good! Of course it is. It’s a Vinterberg film. It’s just, perhaps, a bit more gentle than a movie about group living and marital infidelity should be, and perhaps … Continue reading →

Review: Alien: Covenant, 2017, dir. Ridley Scott

First thing’s first: Here’s the link to my review of Alien: Covenant at Paste Magazine. Second thing’s, uh, second: Spoilers. I have to get some shit off my chest after the baffling defenses mounted in the film’s favor by some of the most respected names in contemporary film criticism, mostly because their defenses hinge on the … Continue reading →

Review: Take Me, 2017, dir. Pat Healy

I’m not sure I should be reviewing things that Taylor Schilling does. We were classmates in middle school. If objectivity matters in criticism (it doesn’t, but legions of DCEU fans think it does, and who am I to overlook them in discussion of a film that has fucking nothing to do with the DCEU, right?), … Continue reading →

Review: The Drowning, 2017, dir. Bette Gordon

Guys! I’m back! I made it home! I survived vacation! (TL;DR version of my vacation: We went to Vienna, Prague, Aberystwyth, and London, and now we’re all horribly jet lagged.) That means I have a whole lot of stuff to plop in your laps for your reading pleasure, and of course it would be pleasurable, wouldn’t it? We’ll … Continue reading →