Downsizing the house to a 4-bedroom occupied by women on different points of the “psychotic” spectrum. Continue reading
Tagged with british films …
“Cringe Comedy ‘All My Friends Hate Me’s Caustic Nastiness Hypnotizes”
Every millennial reading this right now is feeling very attacked, I guarantee it. Continue reading
“‘The Trip to Greece’ Holds Steve Coogan Accountable Like No Other ‘Trip’ Before”
And if anyone can hold Steve Coogan accountable, it’s career Welshman Rob Brydon. Continue reading
“‘Sorry We Missed You’ Shows the Sorry State Inflicted on Workers Enmeshed in the Gig Economy”
“And the moral of the story is, don’t buy from Amazon,” he said bravely, having already bought from Amazon. Continue reading
“‘Greed’ Is Not Good”
Both as in the selfish desire for wealth or power or material goods, and also the Michael Winterbottom movie. Continue reading
Review: Ghost Stories, 2018, dir. Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson
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
The Shape of a Career: Sally Hawkins
Those of you who know me have probably picked up on my enthusiasm for literally everything Sally Hawkins does, even things she does in movies that aren’t particularly good (though it’s rare she shows up in movies that aren’t particularly good, excepting Godzilla). So, because I love Hawkins so gosh-darn much, I went deep on the … Continue reading
Review: The Party, 2018, dir. Sally Potter
Sally Potter is the typical female auteur in that she is often underappreciated in comparison to her male peers. I happen to think that this is a big dumb failing of movie culture; Potter is superb, at drawing characters, at evoking a sense of time and place in her movies, at constructing sharp-ass dialogue for … Continue reading
Review: The Trip to Spain, 2017, dir. Michael Winterbottom
I took a trip to Spain back in May, during Independent Film Festival Boston, which is just a cutesy-poo way of saying that I saw The Trip to Spain, Michael Winterbottom’s third entry in his The Trip series, orchestrated with and starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. As with the other Trip movies, I liked this one. But it … Continue reading
Review: Their Finest, 2017, dir. Lone Scherfig
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
Interview: Terence Davies, “A Quiet Passion”
More than a few times in my conversation with the great director Terence Davies (aside: he’s one of the most unsung masters of cinema working today, in case you didn’t know), who graciously offered me forty minutes of his time to talk about his latest film, A Quiet Passion, he invoked his sense of anger at … Continue reading
Review: Prevenge, 2017, dir. Alice Lowe
“A 7 months pregnant woman starts murdering the people involved in her partner’s death because her unborn baby tells her to.” That’s Prevenge in summation. In my mind, there’s an alternate dimension where the film attached to that summation is just a winking, nudging, overly self-aware video nasty, and it’s probably fun but too insistent on … Continue reading
Review: The Sense of an Ending, 2017, dir. Ritesh Batra
Remember that time I reviewed Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years? I sure haven’t forgotten it. In part that’s because I just got my copy of The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release of the film in the mail; in larger part it’s because I recently saw The Sense of an Ending, the new film from The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra, and … Continue reading
Review: Dough, 2016, dir. John Goldschmidt
I wouldn’t say I disliked John Goldschmidt’s Dough, though I’m not sure I liked it as a whole movie, either. If I have any pet peeves with movies, and I have many pet peeves with movies, so let’s just pretend I have one, and if I have one pet peeve with movies, it’s when they jam too many different … Continue reading
Review: 45 Years, 2015, dir. Andrew Haigh
“The word “infidelity” likely conjures very specific images in the minds of most; a young couple entangled in a forbidden tryst, lonesome spouses finding succor in the arms of another person, egotists two-timing their partners in hotels for the sheer thrill of it. But we’re just as capable of emotional betrayals as carnal liaisons, of … Continue reading
Best of Criterion’s New Release, July 2015
Beefy film noir, violent, lurid crime flicks, Carroll Ballard, and early Stephen Frears make up the bulk of this month’s Criterion offerings. (Via Paste Magazine.)
Review: The Riot Club, 2015, dir. Lone Scherfig
“Lone Scherfig’s new film name-drops its own title so many times that it very nearly verges on self-parody. If a tenacious viewer felt so inclined, they could make a super-cut of every time anybody on screen coyly huffs and puffs about the eponymous ultra-exclusive “riot club,” and it might last several minutes; the club, a private, … Continue reading
Review: Queen and Country, 2015, dir. John Boorman
“You don’t need to watch John Boorman’s 1987 comedy drama Hope and Glory to vibe with its sequel, the decades-in-the-making Queen and Country. That’s probably the greatest feat Boorman pulls off with this follow-up to his unassuming Oscar nominee: walk into the film blind, and short of feeling like you’re up the Thames without a … Continue reading
Review: Pride, 2014, dir. Matthew Warchus
“From its first frames, Pride opens itself wide to scrutiny: this is based on a true story. We’re used to this, of course. We turn to the cinema for escape, but by invoking REALITY the so-called “true story” breaks the illusion we’ve sought, and in turn, we feel it’s our obligation to call the veracity … Continue reading
Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 2012, dir. John Madden
There’s very little to say about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because, frustratingly, it has nothing of real value to say itself. Maybe there’s some worth to inoffensive, light, fluffy films in that they provide reasonable entertainment for a couple of hours– and god knows I like my fair share of films that fit that description– … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 