“What ‘Ad Astra’ Reveals About Brad Pitt’s Relationship With His Dad”

Ah, yes, “Ad Astra,” also known as “Brad’s Sad Dad Astra.” I thought this movie would be a Bad Astra. But it’s a Rad Astra! And I’m so Glad Astra. Continue reading →

“Inglourious Basterds Turns 10”

10 years after release, the source of “Inglourious Basterds'” enduring relevance isn’t Nazis; it’s Quentin Tarantino’s abiding love of the movies. Continue reading →

Golden Statues and Outrage: The Oscar Nominations

This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the entries for each of their twenty four categories in anticipation of this year’s 84th Academy Awards show. As is always the case, response among critics and film writers has been mixed, characterized by raised eyebrows, occasional high praise and pleasant surprise, and most … Continue reading →

Review: The Tree of Life, 2011, dir. Terrence Malick

“It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.”— Roger Ebert I can’t think of a single contemporary film* I’ve seen that’s quite like The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick’s sprawling, time-spanning, grand opus of spirituality, creation, and human existence. Mercurially free form, the film rejects many traditional notions of narrative … Continue reading →

2011 Rising: My Films to Watch (pt.2)

Part 2 of my 2011 preview commences…now! (Part 1 can be perused here, at your leisure.) X-Men: First Class— By happy coincidence, the first trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s period prequel to the X-Men franchise hit just last week, and guess what? It looks really good. Focusing specifically on the relationship between Erik Lehnsherr, the man … Continue reading →

Movies That Made Going to the Movies Suck: Seven

(Author’s note: Thanks to Mike for putting this exercise together! Head on over to his blog and check out the other entries in the series…they’re pretty inspired!) Fifteen years ago, stylish rogue director David Fincher took audiences by surprise with his grim, unsettling police thriller, Seven*, a Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman vehicle about a … Continue reading →

Review: Inglourious Basterds, 2009, dir. Quentin Tarantino

When have you ever watched a movie by Quentin Tarantino and felt like he showed restraint? My relationship with everyone’s favorite cinematic culture junkie could be described as tenuous at best; Tarantino never shies away from letting his influences show in his pictures, and often his film fetishism feels tiresome and even disruptive to his … Continue reading →