Ranking the Films of Quentin Tarantino
A weird thing happened this past December. As the clock ticked toward Christmas, I found myself terribly excited about a number of late-year releases—The Hobbit, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty. Oddly enough, Django Unchained wasn’t a film I’d been thinking much about, which was strange because Quentin Tarantino is a guy I get. To date, […]
Ranking the Films of Terrence Malick
It took me a long time and a lot of viewings to appreciate the Terrence Malick films the way I do today. The first film of his I experienced (and make no mistake, each and every Terrence Malick film is an experience) was The New World, not long after its release on DVD. I shut […]
To the Wonder Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) If you like your films full of feeling, To the Wonder is for you. The latest from enigmatic director Terrence Malick sacrifices story, character, and dialogue to give the world a film full of and about feelings. The feelings in To the Wonder walk, talk, and interact with other feelings. They have […]
Trance Review
RATING: (3 STARS) There’s a great movie hidden beneath the bright lights, loud noises, and multiple misdirections that make up Danny Boyle‘s latest film, Trance. A heist thriller that thinks it’s a lot smarter than it really is, Boyle and his screenwriters, Joe Ahearne and John Hodge, get bogged down trying to fool us when […]
Ranking the Films of Stanley Kubrick
I’m not sure anything I write about Stanley Kubrick is going to do justice to either his brilliant oeuvre or the thousands upon thousands of scholarly words written about him. All I’ll say is that it’s been a joy to watch (rewatch, for the most part, actually) his films and learn more about his directorial […]
Top 10: Tribeca World Premieres
In just 12 years, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City has carved quite an interesting and influential niche for itself in the independent film world. Though it’s wedged somewhat unceremoniously between Sundance/Berlinale and Cannes, the festival has become THE destination for New York premieres, as well as plenty of North American premieres and […]
Killing Them Softly Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) It took five years following The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford for Andrew Dominik to return to the director’s chair. Five years is a long time to build anticipation for an obviously skilled filmmaker, and his skill is what gets Killing Me Softly through some narrative rough patches. […]
Room 237
It’d be hard for a cinephile to not find at least something enjoyable in Rodney Ascher’s new documentary Room 237. The film is a deep dive into Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining—arguably the strangest movie within the strongest filmography of all time. It’s so strange, in fact, that five individuals have had their lives turned upside-down […]
Detropia
If the 1920s were the best of times for the city of Detroit, Michigan, the late 2000s were absolutely the worst of times. Detropia, a marvelous documentary by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, isn’t exactly a tale of two cities. It’s interested exclusively in profiling the worst of times in the Motor City, which is […]
Smashed Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) To convincingly play drunk is one of an actor’s greatest challenges. Too often, an onscreen alcoholic comes off as loud, abrasive, and goofy—which would be spot-on if it all didn’t feel so forced. Denzel Washington dialed the drunk act down in last year’s Flight—a borderline remarkable film led by an unquestionably remarkable […]
Oz: The Great and Powerful Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Fairy tale prequels, sequels, remakes, and reimaginings have been all the rage at the multiplex over the past few years. And while The Wizard of Oz isn’t exactly a fairy tale, comparing Oz: The Great and Powerful to films like Snow White and the Huntsman and Jack the Giant Slayer isn’t unreasonable. […]
Gangs of New York Review
RATING: (4 STARS) “My father told me we was all born of blood and tribulation, and so then too was our great city.” This beautiful quote just about closes Martin Scorsese’s impossibly epic Gangs of New York. And it’s a fitting one to sum up both the film’s plot and biggest themes. The Amsterdam Vallon […]
Amour Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) One has to be prepared for the kind of cinematic masochism that comes with watching a Michael Haneke film before sitting down to his latest, the Best Picture-nominated Amour. But while brutal, this film is almost nothing like the Austrian auteur’s previous work. Everything that’s gruesome comes back to intense sorrow, not […]
Projecting the Cannes 2013 Lineup
Now that the 66th annual Cannes International Film Festival (May 15-May 26, 2013) has its jury president (Lincoln director Steven Spielberg), speculation over what films will compete for the 2013 Palme d’Or has intensified. I’ve identified 30 titles that seem like plausible Cannes selections. It’s impossible to say whether any or all will be ready […]
Early 2014 Oscar Predictions
We aren’t but 48 hours removed from one of the better Oscar ceremonies in recent memory, and my eye is already fixed on 2014. Sad, but true. To say these 2014 Oscar predictions should be taken with a grain of salt is the understatement of the year so far, but I’ll say this: Last year […]
