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 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
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
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
It’s possible that I’m being too combative about all of the cultural inquiry made into Sofia Coppola’s new film, The Beguiled, in my review (written, as ever, for Paste Magazine). I’m not entirely sure. What I am sure of is that the structure of the conversation surrounding the film is symptomatic of the major ills afflicting … Continue reading
(What do any of these movies have in common with each other? Little and less, but maybe you can draw some links from one to the other to the third, especially between the first and the last in the round-up. Or maybe not. There’s not much that gooey indie dramedies, harsh crime stories, and acid-trip … Continue reading
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
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
(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
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
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
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
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
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
Get ready to be bummed, gang: This is my last Brooklyn Nine-Nine write-up. For now! For now. Easy there, you didn’t let me finish. This is my last Brooklyn Nine-Nine write-up for now, as I’ll be unable to cover the rest of the season (ending on the 23rd). But it’s all good! You can still tune into … Continue reading
