The Next Barnes and Noble Criterion Sale
The question on every cinephile’s lips around the 15th of every month: “When is the next Barnes and Noble Criterion sale?” It’s true we’re spoiled twice a year, but that moment after you make your final, last-minute purchase is one of both satisfaction and disappointment. “Really, I’m not going to own another one of these […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Sunday Afternoon with Criterion: The Earrings of Madame de… Edition
I: Intro II: The Earrings of Madame de… III: What’s New? Intro Welcome to Sunday Afternoon with Criterion, a series of posts on JohnLikesMovies.com covering everything Criterion—the company’s newest releases, just-announced projects, reviews, lists, links, and more. In the midst of the bi-annunal Barnes and Noble Criterion sale comes a killer lineup announcement. February 2014—like […]
What Else I’m Watching: October 2013
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. It’s been a hectic […]
Wes Anderson Movies
Wes Anderson is one of the few directors whose name has become an acceptable adjective to describe his own movies. And there’s a good reason for that. Wes Anderson movies are stylistically and tonally identifiable in ways almost no other working director’s movies are. Wes Anderson movies have experienced a rejuvenation of sorts recently with […]
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 […]
TOP 10: Non-Pixar Animated Films of the Decade
I finally caught up with Rango this weekend and thought it was swell—a really funny, engaging family movie and a successful throwback to the westerns of old. I started thinking where it would rank on my list of favorite animated films in recent memory and realized that list has been totally monopolized by Pixar. So […]
The Ten Best Films of 2009
This was a very good year in film, and my first (partial) year as a blogger. Below are the ten films that have best stood the test of time. 10.) In the Loop Profanity has never been better used than in this frightening satire of government ineptitude. The film is very British and very, very […]
Fantastic Mr. Fox Review
RATING: (4 STARS) I’m not the biggest Wes Anderson fan. Other than “The Royal Tenenbaums,†I’ve found his work to be one-note and somewhat pretentious. With that said, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox†was anything but. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, full of wit and charm. In a year when animation seems to be one-upping […]