Joel Coen’s Macbeth adaptation is visually striking — but unaffecting
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
January 8, 2022
Did social distancing influence this Joel Coen production of the Scottish play? It has some great actors in it, but their performances seem strangely separate. And the film's striking images seem more like a gallery of evocative stills than immersive cinema.
1 Comment20 Minutes
The Weekender: Christmas Edition 2021
On Movies & Media,On Songs & Albums,Journal,The Weekender
December 25, 2021
This week: Malick's rollercoaster ride through the eons of history. Mia Hansen-Løve's film Bergman Island. All hail U2's The Edge!
1 Comment34 Minutes
Twenty years ago this weekend, a fellowship formed in Rivendell…
December 19, 2021
Twenty years ago this weekend, I joined a fellowship at the local cineplex to witness an event that would change the art of movies — for better and for worse — for decades to come.
0 Comments20 Minutes
A zigzagging walk through the highs and lows of Villeneuve’s Dune
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
December 8, 2021
0 Comments53 Minutes
Discovering “Devi”
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
December 5, 2021
During November's Barnes and Noble Criterion sale, I took a chance on a film I've never seen before. I am so glad that I did. It's one of the great films about the possibilities and the dangers of religious faith.
0 Comments8 Minutes
Why I find “Passing” a profoundly “unrelatable” film
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
November 17, 2021
In a season of sprawling epics and extravagant spectacle, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut is one of the year's finest exceptions: a quiet, focused film that knows exactly what it wants to be and efficiently achieves it.
0 Comments22 Minutes
Welcome to Wes Andersonia, Part 1: My first two visits to The French Dispatch
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
November 9, 2021
Wes Anderson's devoting every resource at his disposal to realizing grander visions. The results are more like museums than paintings, more like restaurants than mere meals.
1 Comment20 Minutes
Mass gives us a close-up of one of the hardest conversations ever imagined
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
November 1, 2021
I'm hard-pressed to think of a more difficult conversation I've seen at the movies. Some will discover it, look up the 2021 Oscars, and wonder: Why was this overlooked?
0 Comments18 Minutes
Titane (2021)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
October 9, 2021
This year's top prize at the Cannes film festival is an audacious, lurid circus that leaves me not only disappointed but actually regretting the experience.
3 Comments21 Minutes
No Sudden Move (2021)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
August 31, 2021
Soderbergh is back doing what he does best — scattering criminals like billiard balls, and then knocking down one strong scene after another. He may not play a perfect game here, but this is one of his best in many years.
1 Comment14 Minutes