KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is a mammoth 3 hour and 26 minute indictment on the banality of evil, and stands as a stark reminder to not allow the wrongs of the world to be forgotten, but to remain steadfast against the convenient compulsion to meet evil with apathy. Not only does it contain some […]

“What’s this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself? The land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power, but two?”~Pvt. Train, Terrence Malick’s THE THIN RED LINE “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and […]

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a complete triumph on every level. I can’t think of a time where a movie has so thoroughly improved upon it’s predecessor – let alone with a 36-year-gap between installments. The self-awareness of the film’s campier cliché aspects continue screenwriter/producer Christopher McQuarrie’s stupefyingly successful hot streak of being cheesy in a […]

Stanley Kubrick once criticized the works of Steven Spielberg, (SCHINDLER’S LIST in particular) saying “Think [Schindler’s List] was about the Holocaust?… That was about success, wasn’t it? The Holocaust is about six million people who get killed. ‘’Schindler’s List’’ is about 600 who don’t.” Throughout Spielberg’s career, we can see this as a recurring motif […]

Full disclosure, your mileage may vary on this one. If you’re the type of person who would happily pay the girls from BROAD CITY to babysit your newly-pubescent kids, then you’ll probably eat this up with a spoon. If you maybe have some reservations about a pro-narcissism fable being made with the purpose of pushing […]

The Wendigo-monster at the center of story clearly seems to be a metaphor for poverty in Indigenous Communities… I don’t know if it’s just because I’m a Dad now, but there was some really harsh stuff in here regarding children, and a final “twist” that’s not so much a reward, as it is a punishment, […]

This year’s Oscars were the very worst thing an Oscar ceremony could be – boring, predictable, and non-offensive. You know it was a bummer of a ceremony when you find yourself missing the days of GREEN BOOK winning Best Picture, because that, at least, was memorably infuriating. I find myself reminded of Angela Hayes’ very […]

Roger Ebert once wrote: “For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, […]

Francois Truffaut once said, “Some films claim to be antiwar, but I don’t think I’ve really seen an antiwar film. Every film about war ends up being pro-war.” His point was that war is – in and of itself – too sensational a topic for a film to somberly treat it with the gravity it […]

FILM OF THE YEAR: PARASITE I obviously haven’t seen all of the good movies in 2019 – heck! I probably haven’t even seen all the Best Picture nominees, (I don’t know, they haven’t been announced yet) but I *do* know that even though there’s been some great ones this year, and there are still more […]

FILM OF THE YEAR: EIGHTH GRADE Bo Burnham is a quirky, sometimes crass, very unique standup comedian who got his start on Youtube and Vine. He’s also a 29 year old white dude, so it’s a small wonder how he made such a brilliantly insightful portrait of an eighth-grade girl in EIGHTH GRADE, but that’s […]

FILM OF THE YEAR DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite filmmakers. He’s one of the few directors who manages to somehow make tent-pole Blockbusters, while at the same time, being an auteur who makes films that you’d be hard-pressed to call less than artful. He frequently collaborates with Hans Zimmer, and it makes […]

FILM OF THE YEAR: ARRIVAL As long as I can remember, the US hasn’t done the *best* job at bipartisanship or national unity, with an exception of 09/12/01 perhaps. The whole nation was horrified, traumatized, and united in their desire for wrongs to be made right, but the damage was already done. The towers crumbling […]

FILM(S) OF THE YEAR: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, SICARIO, INSIDE OUT, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, and EX MACHINA I know, I know, I’m way off base here. Five is an absurd amount, but after 2013 proved to be such a slow year for really incredible films, I think we all deserve an extraneous […]

FILM OF THE YEAR: CALVARY The most impact any movie had on me in 2014 was undoubtedly CALVARY. From the moment I first laid eyes on the poster for this film from the brother of one of my favorite directors (John Michael McDonagh and Martin McDonagh, respectively) on a subway platform in London, I knew […]

-2013- FILM OF THE YEAR: SHORT TERM 12 For me, this year came down to INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS or SHORT TERM 12, and I decided that SHORT TERM 12 was more personally impactful to me, simply due to the fact that I’ve watched it more times, shown it to more friends and family members, and […]

-2012 –  FILM OF THE YEAR:  MOONRISE KINGDOM   To say MOONRISE KINGDOM made an impression on me is perhaps the understatement of the decade. This movie single-handedly was not only responsible for giving me inspiration to write the first post I ever wrote on my film blog, but was in fact responsible for me […]

FILM OF THE YEAR:  THE TREE OF LIFE I have yet to see Malick’s latest film, A HIDDEN LIFE, but having seen everything else he’s made, TREE OF LIFE is Terrence Malick at the peak of his powers.   Seeing this movie was not just the most profound experience I had in a theater in […]

FILM OF THE YEAR: THE SOCIAL NETWORK  Many films have been made about historical sea changes, but most of the films in that genre have the benefit of retrospect.    It’s truly rare when a film is made within six years of the event, and the film ends up standing up to the test of […]

RISE OF SKYWALKER is a mess, but some really cool stuff happens in it. It’s acting and it’s visuals are both high-points for the film, and many seeds that are planted throughout the eight films preceding it are brought to fruition in ways that range from satisfying to disappointingly underwhelming… And yes, my eyes rolled […]

The Irishman is something else. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It goes toe-to-toe with films like THE GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS, and honestly? I think it’s even better than GOODFELLAS. Career-best performances all around, but for DeNiro and Pesci especially, in this exploration of the weight of truth, betrayal, duty, and friendship. It’s a […]

This is a beautiful, life-affirming, and immensely moving documentary that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you feel all warm and fuzzy about life – even the sad parts. I once heard one tool for film analysis is to ask yourself the question, “what does this movie love?” This movie loves redemption, […]