“The Death of Dick Long Might Be So Profane It’s Profound”

I have exactly less than no idea how to talk about this movie without giving away its dark, disgusting, hilarious secrets. Continue reading →

“Armando Iannucci on ‘Death of Stalin,’ Jeffrey Tambor and Satire in the Age of Trump”

So, this is pretty huge (at least for me): Last week I spoke to Armando Iannucci, the comic genius behind Veep and In the Loop (among other things, like The Day Today, The Thick of It, and so on) about his new film, The Death of Stalin, which is about exactly what you think it is about. I’m a Iannucci fan … 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 Square, 2017, dir. Ruben Östlund

It might not be obvious based on my interview with Ruben Östlund – I try to keep it professional – but I dug The Square. I dug it so much that I wrote a review about it to pair with the interview. No preamble. Just a link. It’s over at Paste Magazine. Do your thing.

Review: Home Sweet Hell, 2015, dir. Anthony Burns

“Once upon a time, Katherine Heigl had movie stardom within her reach. Now, she’s the lead on NBC’s State of Affairs following a string of commercial duds in the early 2010s. There’s a whole article to be penned about Heigl’s rise and fall in Hollywood since online backlash first put her in the pillory in 2007 … Continue reading →

Review: The Guard, 2011, dir. John Michael McDonagh

John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard opens on what appears to be an obvious set-up at first glance: a car full of teens hurtling along the winding and narrow roads of Connemara, in the process of intoxication through the employment of various mediums, surely won’t be suffered to remain in drive for long in a story … Continue reading →