“‘Being the Ricardos’ Sags Under the Sorkin of It All”

This could have been a good movie, but the writer-director couldn’t help Sorkin all the oxygen out of the room. Continue reading →

“‘Bombshell’ Is An Oversanitized Mess — And A Missed Opportunity”

There are only so many ways that I, personally, can imagine screwing this movie up, and Jay Roach screws it up in all those ways plus others. Continue reading →

“Films By Women: Four Movies To Watch From December”

  It’s the last “Films By Women” piece of 2018! I bet you’re pretty bummed. But it’s okay; there’ll be other lists soon. Like, “in a month” soon. We’re already getting our 2019 watching underway over here in Andy Crump land. (There is no “we.” I am using the royal “we.” It’s my blog! I … Continue reading →

Review: Aquaman, 2018, dir. James Wan

Preamble: Man, the DCEU movies are fucking bad. (Excepting Wonder Woman, which is good until it’s bad.) …okay, got that out of the way. Aquaman kinda rocks. Like Wonder Woman, Aquaman cradles its share of flaws and bad creative decisions, most of them involving the totally great Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who deserves to be a big huge movie star and … Continue reading →

In 2017’s Movies, Poisonous Mushrooms Were an Unlikely Symbol of Female Liberation

Well, I did it: I got an article up on Vulture. Maybe it’ll be the only one I do, though I really fucking hope not. If so, hey, I have that byline, and that’s another checkmark on my list of goals for 2017 (and just in the nick of time, which is generally how I … Continue reading →

TV Review: Top of the Lake: China Girl

Oh, Top of the Lake: China Girl; I wish I liked you better.  The first season of Jane Campion’s SundanceTV series is phenomenal, make no mistake; also make no mistake that she should have left it at one season, assuming that her plan for following it up was always, well, this. Top of the Lake: China Girl … Continue reading →

Review: The Beguiled, 2017, dir. Sofia Coppola

It’s possible that I’m being too combative about all of the cultural inquiry made into Sofia Coppola’s new film, The Beguiled, in my review (written, as ever, for Paste Magazine). I’m not entirely sure. What I am sure of is that the structure of the conversation surrounding the film is symptomatic of the major ills afflicting … Continue reading →

Review: Lion, 2016, dir. Garth Davis

I found the experience of Lion frustrating, but it took me time to understand the depths of my frustration. The film works for about an hour, its first hour, where young Saroo Brierly winds up lost in Calcutta, a place where he knows neither a soul nor a word of the language spoken; the terror he … Continue reading →

…And the Nominees Are: Oscar Follow-Up

What makes the efforts of one director superior to those of another? If one person wins Best Director, does it stand to reason that they should also win Best Picture? I had these two questions– and sub-questions pertaining to both, as well as variations on each of said questions– rolling around in my head after … Continue reading →

Review: Nine, 2009, dir. Rob Marshall

Rob Marshall is no stranger to the musical genre; just eight years ago he enjoyed considerable success adapting Bob Fosse’s iconic crime satire Chicago, both critical and monetary, from Broadway to the silver screen. His film wound up inexplicably snagging the Best Picture award at the Oscars, and even if Marshall himself got black flagged … Continue reading →