What Else I’m Watching: March 2014
Because you can’t review them all. Sadly, life gets in the way of writing about everything I see, so this space is as much for keeping track of what I’m watching as it is for you to share your thoughts on what are, with any luck, a group of high-quality films. I haven’t written this […]
5 Essential 30 for 30 Documentaries
Over at Sound on Sight, I wrote a piece on the best of ESPN’s incredible 30 for 30 series of sports documentaries in honor of March Madness and the debut of its latest film, Requiem for the Big East. I still have caught up with Requiem, but I did watch a lot of films in […]
Nymphomaniac: Volume II Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In Volume I of Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, sex was used as a means of discovery and toy for manipulation. In Volume II, it’s a goddamn weapon of mass destruction. What’s arguably even more shocking than this film’s depravity and bleakness—or its copious and explicit sexual content—is von Trier’s willingness and ability […]
Darren Aronofsky Movies
A formerly regular column returns this week with some thoughts on the career and films of a personal favorite filmmaker. Darren Aronofsky’s absence from the cineplexes since the real social media boon means he isn’t mentioned as often among contemporaries like Wes Anderson, PT Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and others, but anyone who’s paying attention knows […]
Blood Ties Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Though the film that couldn’t be more representative of a specific place (New York City) and time (the 1970s), Guillaume Canet’s Blood Ties deals with themes that are timeless. An intense sibling rivalry, one between a cop and criminal, takes center stage, but there’s more—arguably too much—going on in this story co-written […]
Casino Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The 1990s were a fascinating period in the career of Martin Scorsese. It might not have been his most creatively fruitful decade, but he really started to experiment and step away from what’d become known for—The Age of Innocence, Kundun, etc. Casino, then, is an anomaly because it’s so (for lack of […]
Night and Fog Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Alain Resnais originally didn’t want to make Night and Fog, and following its production, he suffered from prolonged nightmares. A viewer might experience something similar. It isn’t an easy task to sit down and consume Night and Fog, despite its mere 30-minute running time, and its disturbing imagery will leave that viewer […]
Nymphomaniac: Volume I Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Volume I of famous Danish provocateur Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac saga is…well…incomplete. This portrait of a woman’s journey into sex addiction builds and builds and builds, and if Volume II delivers on the promise introduced here, these two drifting hours of character development will feel essential. On their own, they just don’t. […]
Final 2014 Oscar Predictions
We’re almost there. And thank God, because I can’t anymore. This will likely be the last year I spend time writing and talking about the Oscars regularly. Too much noise. I’ve been defeated. Anyway, it’s a hell of a good year to go out with some pretty brilliant titles leading the charge for gold. I […]
2014 Cannes Lineup Predictions
The recent (bizarre) series of announcements that led to Grace of Monaco being named the opening night film of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the selection of Jane Campion to head the 2014 Cannes jury, caused my mind to drift toward the Croisette. It hasn’t left since, and it won’t until Cannes […]
Casting the Monstars for Space Jam 2
“News” “broke” over the weekend that King LeBron James himself would be suiting up this summer for Team Looney Tunes in a sequel to the brilliant 1996 comedy Space Jam. If your childhood was anything like mine, Space Jam was a staple. Bugs Bunny, Lola, Bill Murray, Wayne Knight, and His Airness Michael Jordan could […]
Kids for Cash Review
RATING: (3 STARS) For the uninitiated, the “Kids for Cash” judicial scandal took place over a period of about ten years, from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (one county over from where this reviewer grew up, incidentally), Judge Mark Ciavarella ruled over the juvenile court system with an iron […]
Best Quotes from Wes Anderson Movies
Bottle Rocket Dignan: “What a lemon! One minute it’s running like a top, and the next it’s broken down on the side of the road. And I can’t fix a car like this, because I don’t have the tools! And even if I did have the tools I don’t know if I could fix a […]
The Fearlessness of Pixar’s Ratatouille
I recently contributed to Sound on Sight’s 28 Days of Disney Animation series by discussing the theme of fearlessness in Pixar’s Ratatouille. It’s one of my very favorite Pixar films alongside WALL-E and Toy Story 3, and I talked about how the ballsiness inherent in the film’s premise opened the floodgates for a half decade […]
5 Best Performances in Wes Anderson Movies
2014 has had its fair share of pleasures in its first month or so, but the biggest movie for cinephiles like myself to come so far this year (and for some, to come at all this year) is Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. I placed it #2 on my most-anticipated movies of 2014 list. […]
Die Hard Review
RATING: (4 STARS) There’s a reason why, 25 years after its release, John McTiernan’s Die Hard is such a ubiquitous film. There’s a reason why it’s been sequelized and duplicated to death. There’s a reason why, following it, Bruce Willis became a star. There’s a reason why it’s often named among the very best action […]
