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
It’s bad enough we have to learn about superheroes in movie theaters all across the world these days, but now our children have to learn about superheroes in the classroom. Someone, please: Think of the children. There’s a lot that happens in <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i>, most of it designed to bolster the bonds holding the Marvel … Continue reading
Well, would you look at that! I got an article up at The ARTery, the arts and culture hub for our local NPR station here in Boston, good ol’ WBUR: It’s a review of Room 104, a new anthology series running on HBO, which just began airing on 07/28. In my estimation, based solely on what … Continue reading
I really don’t even know how to account for this movie, guys. I wish I knew who in their right mind thought making a movie about fucking goddamn emojis was a sound idea, though “right mind” is likely being generous; whoever came up with this pitch was probably coked out of their minds and on … Continue reading
Hey, uh, Jessica Williams: On the off chance you read my review of your new movie, The Incredible Jessica James, don’t take it personally. I liked you fine! I just didn’t like anything else about the movie! Except maybe Chris O’Dowd! And Noël Wells! Okay, mostly I just didn’t like the direction, because I think James … Continue reading
In stark contrast to Kuso, that really gross movie I reviewed the other day, here’s my review of Damien Power’s Killing Ground over at Paste Magazine, which is arguably harsher while being much less offensive to watch. This is something I struggle with frequently as a critic and as an all-around cinephile: What is, and isn’t, offensive, and … Continue reading
I don’t need to explain this one, do I? Mad Men turned 10 years old yesterday. The TV writing staff at Paste Magazine wrote about its best episodes; I specifically wrote about Pete Campbell getting knocked the fuck out by Lane Pryce, and also about the time Sterling Cooper became Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Nothing complicated, … Continue reading
I have no further words for Kuso, the first feature from Flying Lotus, aka Steve Ellison, because I expended them all while writing my review of the film for The Playlist. Suffice to say: It’s something else. As you’ll no doubt gather from the piece’s opening paragraph, I have a high threshold for fucked up movies, … Continue reading
If you’ve not seen a single Alejandro Jodorowsky film, from El Topo to The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre to Tusk, or his last movie, 2013’s The Dance of Reality, then don’t worry: His latest, Endless Poetry, is totally accessible and understandable, no matter that you have no idea who Jodorowsky is, do you? Do you?! You disgust me. …so yeah, please read my review of Endless Poetry! … Continue reading
“What a fun lark,” said my frosted side after watching Luc Bondy’s False Confessions. “Is this sort of story still worth recycling in 2017?” said my whole wheat side while stroking his beard. Maybe I’m being a spoilsport here, but sitting through False Confessions, I couldn’t help but wonder at its basic conceit and whether it’s really … Continue reading
The last Lone Scherfig thing I saw was 2015’s The Riot Club, and I don’t mind saying that her latest film, Their Finest, is a step up from that. (Not that The Riot Club is bad or anything. I just wish she’d gotten to the point faster, though years later I wonder if that’s a burn on me … Continue reading
Another day, another article about beer, my third love after television and the movies. This ain’t much (though it took a lot of trying to put it together, plus the kind intervention of some of Trillium’s wonderful employees), but every single word of that “ain’t much” is meant with my whole being. If you’re in … Continue reading
I know it is unfashionable for men to talk about sex and arousal in context with pop culture, but I’m a big dummy who doesn’t know what’s good for him, so I went ahead and did exactly that for The Playlist’s Bingeworthy Breakdown feature, in which I say a bunch of smart stuff, and smartass … Continue reading
I’m not saying that Baby Driver and They Live by Night are all that closely related; I’m just saying that I saw both in close proximity to one another, and I couldn’t help thinking of their surface similarities, even though they’re ultimately from different families. Regardless, They Live by Night is a highlight from The Criterion Collection’s June … Continue reading
Tramps, to me, represents the double-edged sword of Netflix; with it, filmmakers like Adam Leon get to work, but they also don’t get to show their movies in actual theaters. I don’t know how I feel about that. (Wait: Yes I do! Bad. I feel bad about that.) If that’s the trade-off for Leon making … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 