I’ve not yet stumbled upon a review of Moonlight that has found a way to associate the film’s message with the central philosophies of the Black Lives Matter movement, mostly because that movement is not germane to the film’s messages and because, I suspect, any white author writing about Barry Jenkins’ extraordinary second feature is smart … Continue reading
You’re locked inside, the movies you want to see aren’t getting VOD releases, and you’ve probably watched the ones that have. Maybe try something way off your radar next! Continue reading
In the Baldwin novel, time is a motif, but in Jenkins’ adaptation, it’s a theme that spans his filmography all the way back to “Medicine for Melancholy.” Continue reading
No better way to preamble this piece than by saying that speaking with Trevante Rhodes was a humbling experience; he’s a gracious man, to say nothing of his talents as an actor or his Herculean physique, and while we did do some press about his new movie (Susanne Bier’s Bird Box), we talked more about male identity … Continue reading
Lew, You wrote back. I can’t believe you wrote me back. I’m sure anyone else peering in on our correspondences will think the five month gap between my last missive and your response is somewhat strange, but I don’t care; I’m just grateful you thought enough of me to say anything at all. Pardon me … Continue reading
We’re back with Paste Magazine’s routine and newly evergreen “10 best movies in theaters” feature! (Meaning: We’re going to update this sucker on a regular basis without remaking a new list every time the month changes over. Seems more efficient, yeah?) This round-up features, among other films, XX, Get Out, Kong: Skull Island, and of course Moonlight, which got … Continue reading
In 2017, you’re either a La La Land partisan or a Moonlight partisan. If you follow this blog, or really if you’ve been following it since October, you know which movie I favor, so you’re probably next to not at all surprised to hear that I stumped hard for Barry Jenkins’ extraordinary movie about ordinary life in Paste … Continue reading
This is it, dudes and dudettes: My last “best of 2016” post, at least I think it is, because who knows, I could have written a thing or three for other lists that I’ve just plum forgotten about. Anywho, what the title says. The Online Film Critics Society has announced the winners of its 2016 … Continue reading
Well, you all know what this post is about. A brief intro: Most years, I agonize over my top ten list to the bitter end, and then for a while after, too. This largely has to do with volume. I don’t tend to see all of the movies that I want or need to in a … Continue reading
Nobody ever gets sick of list-writing exercises or year-end reminiscences, so here’s a double dose from Movie Mezzanine, where I wrote about the 2016 film that’s most likely to inspire future filmmakers (Moonlight), and my favorite older discovery made during the year, The Executioner.
You’re aware, I imagine, that I am a member of BOFCA, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and if you are aware of that, then you are also likely aware that every year, we vote, as critics groups do, to determine with authority which movies of the last 365 days were, in a word, “best.” … Continue reading
We’re changing it up, y’all! Instead of telling you what the ten best movies in theaters are in a given month, we at Paste Magazine are going to tell you what the ten best movies in theaters are right now, at this very moment, and that’s how it’s gonna be. (Makes sense: It’s sort of hard to … Continue reading
Well, I meant to share this on the ol’ blog sooner, but we’re only three days out from last month so I don’t think the delay is that great an infraction: Paste Magazine’s got their list of the best ten movies in theaters as of October, and you should go look at it! Great flicks, … Continue reading
Much as I love Mahershala Ali, I’m kinda glad to see him go in the context of Luke Cage: He’s one villain too many, or the show just plain ol’ has one villain too many, and if one of ’em had to go, Cornell Stokes makes the most sense. (Don’t feel too bad for Ali: 2016 is … Continue reading
It’s taken me some time, but I finally have the second half of the most recent Criterion Files installment for you to peruse. I realize we’re well outside the week and a half timeline I hinted at in the first part, but by now you should all know me well enough to not take my … Continue reading
Christopher Nolan is a man obsessed with heroes who choose fantasy over reality. This proclivity didn’t only begin when he took on the task of rehabilitating the ailing Batman franchise by wrapping it with thick layers of realism, though it’s easily the most obvious place to start in this particular analysis: Nolan’s characters, beginning with … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 