“Kitty Green Discusses Complicity and Loneliness in ‘The Assistant'”

The director of one of the best movies of the year was kind enough to talk to me about making a “timely” movie that’s actually timeless. Continue reading →

“‘The Assistant’ Wields Loneliness To Devastating Effect”

It’s bad enough working a job where you barely have time to eat, and worse when the person you’re starving yourself for is a bastard. Continue reading →

Review: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, 2009, dir. Paul Weitz

I’m of the firm belief that movies should always be made with the utmost care in craftsmanship no matter who they’re being made for. This belief seeps into every aspect that goes into the finished product that we end up seeing on the big screen after we buy our tickets and find our seats, from … Continue reading →

My Most Anticipated Films For IFFBoston ’16

If you have been tuning into this space for the last week and wondering why I have posted exactly zero new updates, it’s because I’ve been gallivanting around Bermuda since the 12th. But I’m back in Boston, and with eight days to spare before Independent Film Festival Boston’s 2016 rumpus, I’d say it’s about time … Continue reading →

Review: The Witch, 2016, dir. Robert Eggers

There’s not a lot that I have to say about Roger Eggers’ The Witch that isn’t perfectly encapsulated by a single line from Drew McWeeny’s review out of Sundance 2015. “I’m not sure how you explain what you want in scenes like these to kids,” he wrote of one specific and electrifying moment midway through the … Continue reading →

Review: Hitchcock, 2012, dir. Sacha Gervasi

Watching Hitchcock you may find yourself wondering, often, what Alfred Hitchcock himself would think of Sacha Gervasi’s efforts to celebrate his life and contributions to cinema. If Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the man tells us anything about him, his likeliest reaction might well be a cutting remark spoken while gazing down his nose at Gervasi’s film. Hitchcock commemorates the man’s … Continue reading →

TV Review: Veep, 1.1: Fundraiser

By now it’s indisputable that Armando Iannucci has the market cornered on fly-on-the-wall, documentary-style political satire. The man behind not only 2009’s outstanding In the Loop as well as 2005’s BBC Four program The Thick of It, Iannucci has essentially built a career on both the style and content that characterize the vast majority of his output– … Continue reading →

Review: Arthur, 2011, dir. Jason Winer

The biggest crime committed by Jason Winer’s remake of Arthur, the 1981 Dudley Moore classic, is failing to justify its own existence. Winer clearly either isn’t particularly fond of that staple Moore picture, or he didn’t find inspiration in it; Arthur just goes through the motions, following beat after beat and sequencing from one moment to … Continue reading →

Review: Greenberg, 2010, dir. Noah Baumbach

Director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Margot At the Wedding) is no stranger to awkward family dynamics; for him, it’s well-tread territory that he’s obviously and contradictorily comfortable exploring in his cinema. Which, for some, might make his latest effort, Greenberg, feel somewhat effortless and even slight considering the source. After all, he’s done it … Continue reading →

Masks, Memories, Dreamscapes: Nolan’s Delusional Heroes (pt. 1)

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 →

Review: Pirate Radio, 2009, dir. Richard Curtis

In the 1960’s, Britain heavily restricted the broadcasting of rock and roll on their airwaves, ostensibly because the British government is comprised of squares. In response, DJs took to the North Sea in decrepit, ancient boats outfitted with broadcasting equipments and radio towers for the purpose of illegally transmitting radio signals across the country and … Continue reading →

Review: Iron Man 2, 2010, dir. Jon Favreau

The sequel in a superhero franchise is generally highly anticipated for all the promise it holds. With all of the origin work out of the way thanks to the first film, the second entry in the series naturally possesses more room to maneuver and wow audiences without being stymied by a need to portray the … Continue reading →