“‘The Worst Person in the World’ Finds Magic In The Malaise”

Turns out the worst person in the world is me, the guy who won’t update his blog because it’s too much work. Continue reading →

Review: “Sound of Metal,” 2020, dir. Darius Marder

(Note: I wrote this for another outlet but we all failed to remember that someone else reviewed it. So as to not waste the review, I’m running it here instead. Enjoy!) Darius Marder’s debut feature Sound of Metal opens with droning cacophony and nearly ends with more of the same, until his protagonist makes the … Continue reading →

“A Father-Daughter Bond Is ‘On the Rocks’ in Sofia Coppola’s Latest”

I don’t know about you but I prefer MY Bill Murray performances neat. Continue reading →

“‘Defending Jacob’: Chris Evans Can’t Rescue This Heavy-Handed Drama Series”

When an abundance of talent produces a result so middle of the road that you’d rather it’d turned out as shit. Continue reading →

“‘Portrait Of A Lady On Fire’ Is About Truly Being Seen By Another”

One of the “best films of 2019” is now actually opening in theaters, so really it’s one of the best films of 2020, but really it’s a great movie in any year and you should see it. Continue reading →

“In ‘Zombi Child’, White Tears Dampen Haitian History”

“Go do that voodoo that you do,” says the spoiled white girl to the mambo, foolishly throwing cash at something she doesn’t and never will understand. Continue reading →

“Corporations Triumph Over Cars in Ford v Ferrari”

Vroom vroom zoom zoom beep beep screech crash bang boom man emotions vroooooom manly slap fight zip zip zap Continue reading →

TV Review: Taboo, Episode 1.03

Alright! A quality episode of Taboo! After the stumbles taken in “Episode 2,” it’s nice to see the show get its footing back by actually telling a story instead of just checking off plot points. Plus, people who are not Tom Hardy are now getting more opportunity to strut their stuff, though Hardy is still the … Continue reading →

Review: A Single Man, 2009, dir. Tom Ford

Watching 2009’s A Single Man out of sequence with 2010’s hit The King’s Speech puts Colin Firth’s performances in both in a different light and certainly removes the possibility of prejudicial viewings of the latter. I can say with absolute confidence that Firth could have won his Oscar for either of them, and that I … Continue reading →

Review: Black Swan, 2010, dir. Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan could almost be called The Wrestler 2 despite not featuring strapping, muscle-bound men in tights and torn jeans beating each other with their fists and the occasional piece of hardware in bouts with predetermined outcomes; Darren Aronofsky here uses the lens of ballet to continue examining the lengths performance artists will go to, … Continue reading →

Review: The King’s Speech, 2010, Tom Hooper

Tom Hooper’s critical darling The King’s Speech could have been made strictly as a breezy piece of crowd-pleasing art house entertainment, light, airy, and ultimately forgettable, and it still would have been worth seeing. Alternately it could have been approached explicitly as a period drama intent on examining the speech impediment of the man who … Continue reading →

Review: Greenberg, 2010, dir. Noah Baumbach

Director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Margot At the Wedding) is no stranger to awkward family dynamics; for him, it’s well-tread territory that he’s obviously and contradictorily comfortable exploring in his cinema. Which, for some, might make his latest effort, Greenberg, feel somewhat effortless and even slight considering the source. After all, he’s done it … Continue reading →

Review: The Wrestler, 2008, dir. Darren Aronofsky

Forget, if you will, the Jesus metaphor brought to bear in so many discussions of The Wrestler that you’ve undoubtedly engaged in or observed across the web and in personal discussions of the picture’s finer merits (which are many). Yes, there’s some weight to the idea that Mickey Rourke’s over-the-hill wrestling champion of old, Randy … Continue reading →

Something Useful: My Fall Preview

Summer has come and gone, and with it a plethora of truly excellent movies (as well as some truly awful ones). I missed the cut-off point at which composing a list of my favorite movies of the summer season would still be acceptable, and am now in the dreaded “so late that it’s painful” territory. … Continue reading →

Frost/Nixon, 2008, dir. Ron Howard

Watching Frost/Nixon, I couldn’t get past a strange and completely unexpected feeling I had deep in my gut. Something about the movie took me by surprise; something below the surface, something that no one would really expect out of a political drama focusing on the series of interviews David Frost (Michael Sheen) did with disgraced … Continue reading →

Rachel Getting Married, 2008, dir. John Demme

Welcome back, John Demme: After an inconsistent period in the 2000’s (including but not limited to the Manchurian Candidate remake, as well as the listless and uninspired The Truth About Charlie), the director has made what may be his strongest movie since the 90’s. Rachel Getting Married is a new high point in his career, … Continue reading →