I’m wondering if Michael Pearce’s very good Beast is dropping at an inopportune cultural moment; we’re talking a lot about why kids shoot up schools, and there’s a percentage of nimrods trotting out usual excuses like “they were bullied” and “they watch too much violent media.” Beast isn’t quite about either of those, and it’s not about … Continue reading
For a movie with such a cheery, upbeat title, Let the Sunshine In is determinedly melancholic. Check the director’s name and that makes sense: Claire Denis doesn’t really make straightforwardly upbeat movies, from Trouble Every Day to White Material, so naturally she’d make a romantic comedy dripping in sadness. But it’s a good kind of sadness founded on a real … Continue reading
In the words of Michael David Cummings, everybody needs a little vengeance, especially rape victims, and then especially rape victims left for dead in the desert by their married boyfriend and their boyfriends’ friends (one of whom is the rapist). That’s the set-up for Coralie Fargeat’s excellent debut, Revenge, a French genre exercise that’s as gory and … Continue reading
I struggled to put my thoughts about Masaaki Yuasa’s Lu Over the Wall into words, which is really bad, because putting thoughts into words is sort of my thing. It’s not that I don’t like Lu Over the Wall, but rather that Lu Over the Wall is what I imagine your run of the mill psychedelic drug trip looks like … Continue reading
There are times, many in fact, when I sit back, look at what I’ve accomplished in my years coming up in the culture writing biz, and think to myself, “Yeah. That’s pretty good.” (Okay: “Many” is putting it strongly. I do not routinely bask in my own output. It happens only as often as Donald … Continue reading
…so, I probably should have shared this review ahead of this year’s IFFBoston run, because while the review is out of Tribeca, the movie happens to have also played on Thursday night at IFFB. And it’s a pretty good movie. I allude to two other non-traditional docs built on recreation and reenactment, Kate Plays Christine and Nuts!, in my review, but I … Continue reading
Nothing like watching a weird-ass movie adaptation of one of your favorite books that is nigh-unrecognizable from the book, am I right? I doubt Serge Bozon wants me to be mad about Mrs. Hyde; I doubt he made the movie expecting it’d actually make anyone mad. Without a doubt, though, I can say that the movie did … Continue reading
I don’t know of a more elegant way to say this, guys: Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s new movie suuuuuuuuuucks. It gives me literally zero pleasure to call Kings, her interpretation of the events leading into and surrounding the 1992 L.A. riots that erupted after the acquittal of the officers guilty of beating Rodney King, one of the worst … Continue reading
I’m 33 years old and apparently liking Super Troopers and its sequel, Super Troopers 2, is a sign that I need to evaluate my taste and perhaps take a good, hard look at myself in the mirror. Honestly, it probably does say something about me that I still think dick and fart jokes are funny, but if … Continue reading
Nothing bugs me more than a horror movie that refuses to stick the landing when it counts. That’d be Ghost Stories. I’m basically paraphrasing the intro to my review, but I’m not sure what else I can say; you’ve got a movie about a guy with clear father issues who grows up and spends his life … Continue reading
Honestly? I can’t imagine a more useless exercise than making an airy biopic, one-part screwball comedy and one-part “great man” drama, about Jean-Luc Fucking Godard, if not because I find him repellent (even though I dig his films), then because Godard would probably definitely find the idea utterly useless. (Note: He called the movie a “stupid, … Continue reading
A little bit of inside Crump info™: I tend to rate on the lower side than the higher side for more movies than not (with certain recent exceptions). The reason for this tendency is none other than Rotten Fucking Tomatoes, one of my least favorite things to happen to film criticism since Cole Smithey, the … Continue reading
In its own modest, tasteful way, Olivia Newman’s First Match is a harsh watch, a movie loaded with social and political (and sociopolitical) messages that shouldn’t feel modern but do anyways. That’s 2018 for you. We’re still that country. The film leaves no trace of whiteness and makes no mention of whiteness (at least that I recall), … Continue reading
I don’t pretend to have a mind for economic concepts. My review of Jed Rothstein’s The China Hustle is the first time I’ve ever felt free to use that as my hook, so I expect it reads more naturally than anything I’ve written on material in the same ballpark. Basically: If you think we’re out of … Continue reading
It’s probably balm to Anders Walter’s soul to know that unlike David Ehrlich, I did not hate I Kill Giants. That said, I didn’t like it, either, though I have to follow that up by also saying I didn’t dislike it. I’m sure that this is completely sensible to everyone reading this. Thing is, I Kill Giants is … Continue reading
Deep down in my gut, there’s a tiny submerged part of me that honestly thinks The Endless, that new joint by that Aaron Moorhead guy and that Justin Benson guy (reminder: they’re the guys who made Spring, one of the best horror movies of 2014), should get on my nerves. I sort of understand what that part … Continue reading
If you don’t listen closely enough, you might miss the quiet explanation for Pet Names‘ title, but that’s okay: You’re almost guaranteed to catch it. Pet Names is a tiny movie about tiny problems, but it’s beautifully made and completely engrossing; I can’t imagine anyone with a taste for this kind of cinema, character-driven, relationship-driven, unfussed and … Continue reading
Well, I reckon that since I talked to Armando Iannucci about his new film, it’s only proper that I review it, too. So I did. It’s not my first time at the Iannucci rodeo, after all, so if I’m going to go in on The Death of Stalin, I’m going to go all-in. (Or something.) I’ll say … Continue reading
