Nicolas Winding Refn Movies
Nicolas Winding Refn movies are violent—almost too much so for my squeamish stomach. While I admire Nicolas Winding Refn movies, I’ve found myself watching the few I’ve seen through the tiny gaps between my fingers. Drive, unquestionably Nicolas Winding Refn’s most popular movie, is the most beautiful ugly film you’ve ever seen. The best shots […]
My Netflix Instant Blind Spots
It’s been ages since I settled a classic blind spot marathon. Not getting discs from Netflix deterred me from tackling anything too complicated, plus I got sidetracked with newer releases and the like. So this idea was born. I’ve identified 25 films available now on Netflix Instant that I have never seen before. It’s actually […]
Spring Breakers Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is perhaps the ultimate test (or, less hyperbolically, the ultimate test this year) of seeing the forest for the trees. Is Korine—an infamous boundary pusher whose first film was about an HIV-positive man deliberately infecting young women—saying something profound about our youth and culture with this would-be exploitation […]
Guillermo del Toro Movies
Guillermo del Toro movies aren’t ones you’d expect to enchant the typical cinephile. Full of monsters, demons, action, and effects, Guillermo del Toro movies lack a certain subtlety and rarely delve too deeply into a character’s psyche. They’re always thrillingly composed. His aesthetic style, the costumes, makeup, etc. are all unmistakable. And the themes of […]
Sunday Afternoon with Criterion: Barnes and Noble Sale Edition
I: Intro II: 50% OFF! III: Links Intro Welcome to Sunday Afternoon with Criterion, a series of fortnightly posts on JohnLikesMovies.com covering everything Criterion—the company’s newest releases, just-announced projects, reviews, lists, links, and more. With mere hours left until Criterion DVDs and Blu-Rays go on sale at Barnes and Noble, I’m giving you a special […]
Europa Report Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Mere minutes into Europa Report, we’re told the space mission being chronicled—one that would, for the first time, send man into deep space—was watched intensely by the general public for six months before it went dark. The four men and two women on board Europa One—a vessel headed for the icy Jupiter […]
No Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain has defined his career thus far by capturing the dark side of life in his native country during the authoritarian rule of General Augusto Pinochet. His latest, the Oscar-nominated No, is a decidedly brighter picture that chronicles Pinochet’s democratic defeat, and the optimistic tone serves Larrain well. For […]
What Else I’m Watching: June 2013
A former monthly column at John Likes Movies comes back. Why? 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 (at […]
2014 Oscar Predictions: What’s Changed?
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. In the mean time, I’m running down what’s changed over the past few months, since I last updated by 2014 Oscar Predictions just days after the most recent Oscar ceremony. I’ve also listed the few films from […]
Noah Baumbach Movies
Noah Baumbach, over the course of seven movies, has become the master of melancholy. Noah Baumbach movies typically feature characters in a state of personal disarry, and as such, his movies tend to be very much character-driven. Just look at the Noah Baumbach filmography, and you’ll see film after film that derives its title from […]
Ranking the Superman Movies
Superman’s film lineage is absolutely fascinating. Even when you remove the on-again-off-again projects during the lost years of the 1990s and early 2000s (not to mention the Richard Donner fiasco of 1980), the six films themselves are so different and so uniquely imperfect. Do we have a definitive Superman movie? Not a chance. I’ll get […]
Sunday Afternoon with Criterion: Things to Come Edition
I: Intro II: Remaking the Collection III: Things to Come IV: What’s New? V: Links Intro Welcome to Sunday Afternoon with Criterion, a series of weekly posts on JohnLikesMovies.com covering everything Criterion—the company’s newest releases, just-announced projects, reviews, lists, links, and more. Perhaps it’s the summer, or maybe something else entirely, but remakes are on […]
Man of Steel Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Once more unto the breach, dear friends… When the public’s goodwill toward Superman turned sour following the abominable Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Krypton’s finest took a 19 year break from the big screen. Superman Returns was meant to be a triumphant return, and the film played that angle up, but […]
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks Review
Like most of prolific director Alex Gibney‘s documentaries, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is serious-minded, but breezy and easily digested—it deserves much more than simply being called “the WikiLeaks movie.” Gibney has a nack for efficient storytelling that entertains as much as it informs, and his take on the enigmatic Julian Assange is […]
Frances Ha Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Who would have thought the best film from writer/director Noah Baumbach—master of the melancholy—would be so light and airy? Frances Ha is simple, but delightful—a film carried on the back of clever writing and a dynamite lead performance. It also packs a surprising amount of emotion and insight, even if it isn’t […]
Sofia Coppola Movies
Sofia Coppola movies are prickly little buggers. She has a style that’s off-putting to some, and the subjects she tackles are sometimes criticized for their flippancy or shallowness. But Sofia Coppola makes Sofia Coppola movies, so if you aren’t on board with her yet, you might as well stop here and find a new director […]
